Tales of the Past
by VivetteLeMorte
Summary: A remnant of Kaname's past shows up at Cross Academy, revealing the pureblood's dark nature and captivating one of the Night Class with tales of history. But what does this mean for those involved? Who is this mysterious girl? Rated MA for violence and mature themes.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN VAMPIRE KNIGHT, ONLY YVELTA GRIMM**

He shouldn't have followed Kaname. He should have stayed in his room. He was going to be in so much trouble.

Thoughts such as these ran through Aidou Hanabusa's head as he snuck down a dank stairwell into the depths of the dungeons under Cross Academy. Until now he hadn't even known the dungeons existed. But he remained determined. Whatever had changed Kaname's behaviour was down here.

Kaname had been acting strangely of late. He had been taciturn, more prone to outbursts of temper. It had worried Hanabusa greatly. But he was not prepared for the answer.

Upon exiting the stairwell, he found himself in a wide room. It was pitch black, though this wasn't an issue with the gift of vampiric night vision. He was surprised to find the room occupied by someone. As he moved closer he could see that it was a girl. She was of average height, slim, and held against the walls with manacles on her wrists and ankles. Her hair hung over her face, obscuring it completely.

Alarm bells immediately began ringing in Hanabusa's mind. What the hell was this? Some kind of… Sex dungeon? She didn't even look of age.

'Ooh, a visitor!' A smooth, melodic voice called out. Hanabusa jumped, looking around for anybody he had missed.

'No, there isn't anybody else here. Just you and me.'

He turned to the girl. She was staring at him. Her eyes terrified him. The irises were electric purple, but the pupils… The pupils were golden. He was caught like a rabbit in headlights, incapable of moving.

A cruel smile curved on the girl's face. 'Did he send you here? No, I think not. You're too jumpy for that. He would have warned you of what to expect. No, you're here for another reason entirely… Following Kaname, perhaps? Curious about his nightly activities?' She coughed, a dry, painful sound, almost pitiful. Hanabusa's fear began to evaporate. She was, after all, manacled to a wall, and there was no evidence so far that she was a threat. He moved closer.

'Who are you?' He asked in the most commanding tone he could muster.

She smiled again, that same cruel smile. 'Someone you should keep your distance from, pretty boy. Wouldn't want to get that porcelain face damaged.'

He winced slightly. 'That doesn't answer my question.'

She snorted. 'You're not very intelligent, are you? That is all the answer you would have needed, had you the brains to see the danger you're in. Your pureblood master has to keep me chained to a wall, and you think you need to know who I am? You don't even know what I am.'

What she was? What on earth did she mean by that?

She seemed to be able to tell what he was thinking. 'I'll give you a hint. What do you smell?'

Hanabusa sniffed involuntarily, and frowned. 'Nothing… Absolutely nothing.'

'Exactly. You can't even smell my blood, can you?'

Fear shot through Hanabusa again. She was right. He couldn't. But he could see it, as he walked closer. It was seeping out of countless wounds on her body. Torture wounds, by the look of it. He felt sick.

'What… Are you?' He stammered, horrified at the person before him.

Her eyes flashed. 'An abomination.'

The room was spinning. Hanabusa fled, but the sounds of her maniacal laughter rang in his ears all the way back to the Moon Dorms.

Hanabusa forced himself to act normally in class the next day. Nobody could know about his discovery. He was sickened by what he found and by what it meant. Kaname was holding this woman there and torturing her. Why would he do such a thing? What reasons could she have? Was she a threat to the school? If so, why had he brought her here to torture?

'Aidou!' The teacher called out. 'Attention, please!'

He jumped, and began scribbling what was written on the board. He could feel Kaname's eyes burning into the back of his head.

When class was over, Kain Akatsuki approached him, hands in his pockets, nonchalant as ever.

'What's up, Hanabusa? You're acting all… Weird.'

'Nothing, just… Didn't sleep well.'

He remained distracted until he went to bed, and once again couldn't sleep. Instead he snuck out again, needing to find out more about that girl. He was smart enough to check that Kaname wasn't watching him when he left.

Upon reaching the dungeons, he checked around to make sure he wasn't being watched, and crept down the staircase. Once again he saw the girl, and once again she gave him that cruel, bitter smile.

'Back again? My, you are curious.'

She had more wounds. Blood was seeping out of her left nostril and she had a black eye and a badly split lip. She had deep gouges down her front that went to her right side, stopping at her hip. It was monstrous, but she didn't seem to be in much pain.

Hanabusa moved slightly closer to her. 'Why?'

The girl raised an eyebrow. 'Why what? Why could be the beginning to an almost infinite number of questions and you expect me to know which one of those questions you are asking? Elaborate.'

Hanabusa's anger sprung up out of nowhere. 'There's no need to be so rude! Perhaps that's why you're locked up here!'

The woman laughed. 'Oh, how naïve and immature. I assume that's what you wanted to know? Why he's keeping me here? I'm afraid it's rather a long story.'

Hanabusa sat. 'I've got some time.'

The girl gave him a piercing look. 'Alright. If you insist.'

And she began her tale.

Around 10,000 years ago, before Kaname slumbered, he had discovered the method of gene splicing. Primitive compared to the method now, but nonetheless it worked. Pure genius. There had been at that time a cult of vampire worshippers, or perhaps more aptly servants, known as blood oracles. Their numbers were carefully controlled. A single bloodline made up the cult, and only females were oracles. Every female would have one child who would also be female, continuing the line. One oracle had been unlucky enough to have twins. The stronger was kept for the cult, while the weaker was sent to be executed. However, Kaname got his hands on her first. She would be perfect for his experiments.

He named her Yvelta, as her mother had neglected to christen her, but he kept her family name of Grimm, as a reminder of what she was. And so the experiments began. Young as she was, her body was more adaptable to change, and so he spliced her genes with those of every strange species he came across, and undertaking that had consumed the first thousand years of his life. He had discovered that so-called mythical creatures were anything but, and he wanted to combine them. All but vampire genes. By the end Yvelta barely resembled a human. She contained the genes of ten different monsters: werewolf, harpy, siren, medusa, centaur, mermaid, lamia, manticore, sphinx, and even that of a Valkyrie. It was an utter miracle that she had survived. Unfortunately for the first few years of her life she was practically uncontrollable and in constant excruciating pain due to the warring genes. But eventually Kaname synthesised a cure for that pain, and a way to keep the genes at bay. She returned to human form, retaining only the best qualities of each monster hidden within her: the heightened smell of the werewolf, the flight of a harpy, with wings that could burst forth at will, the seduction of a siren, the petrifying eyes of a medusa, the enhanced sight of a centaur, hidden gills of a mermaid, the gift of prophecy of lamia, strength of a manticore, intelligence of a sphinx, and superior fighting ability of a Valkyrie. Similarly to vampires, many of these monsters had the curse of immortality. That Kaname did not intend. It was why he kept her in this dungeon now. When she was seven years old she had escaped his laboratory when he had been in the depths of despair over the death of his lover, that mysterious Hooded Woman. He hadn't noticed Yvelta's disappearance until three days later, and by then it was too late. She was long gone.

10,000 years had passed in an instant for Kaname due to his slumber, but not so for Yvelta. She had experienced every one of those years. She had taken part in more wars than she cared to count, changed the course of history with her power, but still she was not satisfied. She desired revenge for such a long time. Such a very long time. But eventually the need for revenge faded, and a need to understand why she existed replaced it. Only one person had the answers she sought. And so when he had eventually resurfaced at Cross Academy, she had followed him, only for him to take her prisoner and torture her for information about the past 10,000 years. Not that it bothered her. Honestly, the torture tickled. She contained so much more power than Kaname that it was impossible for her to be harmed by him in any permanent manner. He used all his energy giving her the cuts and bruises she now sported.

As Yvelta finished her tale of an admittedly very abridged 10,000 years, she turned to see Hanabusa's deathly pale face. He was having great difficulty taking all of this in.

'You thought vampires were the only creatures of the dark, didn't you.' Yvelta smirked.

Hanabusa nodded shakily. 'There has never been a sighting of anything else that I've heard about.'

'Well there wouldn't be. They're all extinct. Kaname made sure of that.'

Hanabusa paled even more. The Kaname he knew was a lie.

'You should go. He's coming.'


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN VAMPIRE KNIGHT, ONLY YVELTA GRIMM**

'We have to get you out of here.' Hanabusa grabbed the manacles holding Yvelta, but she shook him off.

'If I wanted to get out of here, I would do so. Do you really think manacles are capable of keeping me contained?' She almost snarled. Hanabusa recoiled.

Yvelta's purple and golden eyes flashed. 'Get out. Now. You do not want to be his next victim.'

So Hanabusa ran.

'Abomination of mine, are you prepared for another round of torture?' Kuran Kaname's silky smooth voice sounded tense. He knew the torture wasn't getting him anywhere, but there was no other way to deal with an abomination like her. She wouldn't understand the subtleties of negotiation.

Yvelta raised an eyebrow. 'If you wish to continue this pointless farce, be my guest, but I assure you, you will be no more successful than with the previous thirty seven torture attempts. But please, by all means. Do your worst.'

Kaname pulled out a set of ancient torture instruments from a drawer. They looked to be about seven or eight thousand years old. He had never been comfortable with the more modern instruments, they depersonalised the experience too much. There was something far more sinister about having to use your strength to slice through flesh. The thrill that ran through you as the skin and muscle parted and blood burst forth… It was very empowering. And he needed all the empowering he could get against such a strong foe. He couldn't let her escape. Nor could he keep her here forever. It was too risky, there was too much chance that his precious Yuki could be harmed. He would never forgive himself for that, especially if it was his own creation that was the cause. His only choice was to kill her after he had the information he needed about how she had survived this long, and why she was here. But she was giving him absolutely nothing.

After over an hour of slicing, hacking, slashing and beating her with various instruments, still he had learned nothing. What was worse, she didn't seem in pain, or even afraid at all. In fact, Yvelta seemed… Bored.

'I tire of this.' She said as Kaname put the instruments of pain down to catch his breath. He looked up to see her effortlessly tear the manacles from the wall. Fear shot through him. She had been toying with him the whole time.

She peeled the manacles off her wrists and ankles as if they were paper. 'Lord Kuran,' She spat. 'I would reverse our positions, but I do not wish to bring myself down to your level. But know this; if you ever attempt to detain me again, I shall not hesitate to utterly destroy you.'

Kaname looked at her, body tensed for battle. 'Why have you stayed so long? If you could escape so easily, why linger?'

Yvelta's piercing purple irises glittered. 'Why, for answers, of course.' She held a hand in front of her face, apparently inspecting her nails. 'I want to know why I exist. What my purpose is. But I'm beginning to think that you are not the one to provide me with that answer.'

In one swift movement, she kicked him over, sending him flying into the opposite wall. 'I'm leaving. If you try to stop me I will break your back. By the time you've healed I will be long gone.'

Kaname tried to stand up, but fell back against the wall, wincing in pain.

'No reason to stay?' He snarled through gritted teeth.

The comment made Yvelta pause. 'What possible reason could there be?'

He smiled, slightly triumphant. 'Because if you don't, I will take my anger out on Hanabusa, your new pet.'

'Ah.' Yvelta smirked. 'So he didn't hide his tracks that carefully. His loss, not mine.'

Kaname finally managed to stagger to his feet. 'One thing I know has not changed in ten thousand years. You are still not willing to let others suffer as a result of your actions, aloof as you may act to hide it. The same was true when you were a child. You would never let others suffer in the laboratory. You always set them free, no matter the punishment.'

He had her there. An image of Hanabusa chained to the wall as she had been flashed through her mind. Yvelta sighed. Her character had indeed not changed.

'Fine. I will stay, for now. But I will not be your prisoner. You will integrate me into this… Cross Academy.'

Kaname pondered the solution. While not precisely what he had hoped for, this way he could keep an eye on her at all times. That was far better than he had expected from this situation.

'Very well. You shall become a member of the Night Class. I shall inform the headmaster tomorrow. But for now, you will remain here. Or I shall ensure you regret it.'

He left Yvelta fuming quietly at the bottom of the stairwell, closing the door at the top and plunging her into complete darkness.

The next day, Yvelta was taken to see the headmaster. After a brief meeting, in which he seemed a little perplexed about her need to be in the night class when she wasn't strictly a vampire, she was given a uniform and taken to the Moon Dorms. The other vampires gave her odd looks. They were decidedly wary of her. As they should be. She smirked at the thought.

Hanabusa was lolling on a couch, but he sat upright when he saw her. There was shock on his face, and confusion. What on earth was she doing here? It made no sense. She must have threatened Kaname somehow.

Yvelta ignored him, not wanting to draw attention to his reaction, and headed straight for her room. She was the only one not sharing, and as a result her room was rather small, but she didn't mind. As long as she was alone, she would be happy. Solitude was her solace.


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN VAMPIRE KNIGHT, ONLY YVELTA GRIMM**

Yvelta hadn't slept. Exhausted she may have been, but she was uneasy being in the same dorm as so many vampires. She didn't trust them. Why would she? They were bloodsucking parasites, much as they pretended to be anything different.

Class was starting soon, so she resignedly dressed herself, realising as she pulled on her shoes that she had no books.

'Wonderful…' She growled. She'd have to ask someone for a spare. Or, perhaps the teacher would just let her remember what was written on the board. That wouldn't be difficult. She was rather good at remembering things.

She could hear something at the gate. Along with the enhanced sense of smell caused by the presence of her werewolf genes, they had also given her slightly better hearing. What she could hear was girls. Squealing girls. What on earth was going on? She headed to the window and looked out to see a crowd of Day Class students pushing at the gates of the Moon Dorms.

'No… They couldn't possibly be so stupid…' They were there to see the vampires. Though they didn't know about that, of course. They wouldn't be there waiting like sacrificial lambs if they knew.

'How disgusting.' She growled before walking out of the room and slamming the door behind her.

The trip through the Moon Dorms was thankfully quiet. It seemed the others were still in their rooms attending to their looks. Yvelta snorted at the thought. Bunch of prideful pansies. She was about to open the front door when Ichijo Takuma interrupted her.

'Miss Grimm! Please, wait!' He called, racing down the curved marble staircase.

Yvelta sighed and let her hand fall from the door. 'Let me guess. We all go to class as a group so those pathetic, dumbstruck sacks of meat can ogle you all as you walk past?'

He stopped, looking slightly guilty. 'Well, yes.'

Yvelta made a disgusted noise. 'Pitiful.' But she waited anyway. In a few minutes the rest of the vampires reached the front door, and they left together. Aidou jumped out first. It seemed he actually enjoyed this.

'You disgust me.' Yvelta muttered as he flounced past her. He didn't respond, but she noticed with a hint of triumph that his gait was slightly less cheerful.

The gates opened, and Yvelta noticed two people attempting to hold the flood of fans at bay; a brown haired girl and a silver haired boy. She sniffed. No, not a boy at all. He was undead like her classmates. But not the same kind of vampire, no… Far worse off. She'd have to keep an eye on him. Clearly his condition was being hidden for a reason, but Yvelta thought it dangerous for him to be around such helpless, hopeless humans. If he attacked one of them they wouldn't have a chance. It would be interesting, though. She decided to keep the information to herself.

'IDOL!' The girls were shouting. Aidou responded with a huge smile, pointing to different girls, imitating a gun.

Yvelta was the last to leave the gates, and as she walked past the students, a hush fell over them. It seemed she filled them with such a sense of foreboding that it overrode their fawning. Yvelta smiled to herself. They feared her. Good. As they should, inferior creatures.

The vampires seemed surprised by the reaction, seeming to think that humans would not be so perceptive. But you didn't have to be perceptive to be afraid of Yvelta. She simply gave of an air of danger, like the first signs of a bushfire that would soon become utterly out of control.

She could feel their staring. It was both irritating and invigorating. She hadn't received this much attention in almost a thousand years, and the last time was in the middle of the First Crusade, back in 1096 AD. Oh, what fun she'd had. She hadn't fought for any side in particular, appearing as a harbinger of death for whatever side took her fancy. She just enjoyed the slaughter, revelled in it. She'd cut down scores of soldiers from both sides, often at the same time, jumping into the thickest battles and using her immense power to obliterate those weak men. It had been gratifying, to know that she was so powerful. But at the same time she felt unchallenged. Was there nobody, nothing that could stand against her terrible majesty? She had fallen into obscurity after that, leaving civilisation behind, wanting no part of it when she could see no place for herself. She was an outsider, an anomaly. The memories made her scowl, and as a result the students closest to her took a few steps back, worried that she was about to attack them. But she didn't. She merely walked after the other Night Class students, a permanent air of something sinister hanging over her.

Class was terribly dull. The teacher had permitted her to remember everything, but had warned her that she would test her on it the next day. The history class was the worst. The teacher was getting it all wrong. Every single thing was based on hearsay and stories written by those damnable Greek philosophers and poets. Homer was the worst. Thoroughly unpleasant man, though he knew how to tell a story, but the amount of garbage that he put into it to make it more palatable was phenomenal. He was the precursor to the modern day journalist. The teacher was reading snippets from _The Iliad_, which Yvelta had read and laughed at hysterically for around ten minutes afterwards, having been in the Trojan War.

'The fight for Helen is a metaphor for the fight for beauty and righteousness,' the teacher expounded in a grand tone. Yvelta couldn't help but snort.

'Was there something you wanted to say, Miss Grimm?' The teacher gave her a stern look.

'Nothing you would believe.' Yvelta answered quietly.

'Oh really?' The teacher walked over. 'I've noticed, Miss Grimm, that you seem to have an overly large sense of self-importance. If you think you can teach this history class better than I can, when I'm the one with the degree in these topics, than go right ahead.' And the teacher sat.

Yvelta raised an eyebrow. 'Very well.' She stood, wiped everything off the blackboard, and began a lesson in history.

'Homer, poor fellow, had terrible delusions of grandeur. The fight for Helen is not a metaphor, it is merely a part of his story which he weaved into the tale to make it more interesting. Talking about a war waged for trade is hardly as gripping as a fight for love, now is it?'

She began to write up an ancient trade route on the board. 'Troy was situated right in the middle of this trade route, but they refused to agree to Agamemnon's terms, believing themselves to be above his laws. Unsurprising really, considering he was stretching his influence too far. It was inevitable that he would eventually die as a result of his greed.'

To the side of this trade route she wrote notes. They read:

Agamemnon-Helen-Paris

'Now, I'm not saying by any means that Helen was not a real person. She most certainly was, but she was hardly the lovely woman Homer describes her as. In fact she was hardly better than a common harlot. There was indeed a love triangle between Agamemnon, herself and Paris, but Agamemnon himself was hardly known for his loyal nature, acting adulterously with Helen while in the same house as his wife, though she was no angel, and with more prostitutes than could be counted during the war. If Helen was that important to him, I highly doubt he would have been engaging in certain nightly activities on such a regular basis. No, this war was fought for trade and to quash a rebellion in a city that was becoming too powerful for its own good.'

She then drew a line down the middle of the board. 'This is in a similar vein to countless wars over the past several thousand years, which have been fought over economical, religious, or geographical reasons.' She wrote a list of different wars on the board, with the years they were fought and which sides had won. 'It is not fought for beauty and righteousness.' She ended with a disdainful glance at the teacher, who merely glared back.

Yvelta placed the chalk back on the teacher's desk and returned to her seat, satisfied. The teacher huffed and moved on to a different subject, highly irritated at being so publicly humiliated. The other vampires were giving her odd looks again. Looks of surprise and in some cases disgust. She met each look with a level glare, daring them to challenge here. Each one of them looked away. Except Aidou. He didn't seem disgusted, instead he appeared to be amused by the whole thing. Kaname did not acknowledge her at all. That didn't bother her in the slightest.

The end of class was a release. She'd been cooped up for hours with different teachers who knew nothing at all. A bunch of ninnies, they were. How they got to teach at this academy she had no idea.

She did not walk with the Night Class group, preferring solitude after having to spend the whole evening with them. However, her privacy was short-lived. Aidou hung back from the group, giving her one of his most disarming smiles, to which she merely sighed.

'Did you want something?' She asked, resigned to his presence.

'Just to ask you some questions about today.'

Yvelta frowned slightly. 'I don't see what you would need to ask questions about, everything seemed straightforward to me.'

Aidou smiled wider. 'Well it would to you, having been there. But we don't have that experience. Your lesson was fascinating.'

'You like history? You, Aidou?' Yvelta's incredulity seemed to wound Aidou's pride.

'Yes, as a matter of fact I do. And please, call me Hanabusa. Aidou's far too formal for me.'

'Hmm.' Yvelta considered. 'I suppose I should let you call me Yvelta, then. I've never understood the Japanese honorific in any case.'

He asked pertinent questions about various points in history, and Yvelta soon found herself opening up to him, becoming quite animated and even smiling at having someone to talk to who had the same love of history that she did. Well, not quite the same love, he hadn't been there, but it was close enough.

It was only when he said goodbye to her at her bedroom door that she remembered what Kaname had said about harming Hanabusa if Yvelta stepped out of line. It was as if he had known this would happen, that she would be able to at least become an acquaintance of Hanabusa. And knowing him, he probably had. Her good mood evaporated, and she slammed her door, blocking out the rest of the world to try to finally get some sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN VAMPIRE KNIGHT, ONLY YVELTA GRIMM**

The days passed slowly for Yvelta. Each one was the same; dull, filled with far too simple school work that she already knew, and stifled by the presence of Kaname. She could feel him watching her constantly, apparently afraid that she might make a sudden insane move. However, what Yvelta had discerned was why. He was protecting the girl from the Day Class, the Cross girl. She was one of the two people who held the screaming fangirls at bay. Well, held at bay was a vast overstatement… Being completely trampled seemed closer to the truth. Yvelta hadn't really taken any notice of her until she found out. She was… Well, just an average girl, really. She couldn't understand why Kaname was so very protective of her. It seemed to irk the other vampires, too. Humans were beneath them as everything was beneath Yvelta. But if that girl was his weak point, then at least Yvelta knew what to stay away from. For now.

Each afternoon as they left the Moon Dorm was the same. The girls screamed at the vampires with ecstatic happiness, and whispered fearfully when she walked past, bringing up the rear. Aidou had tried to walk with her one day but had found the change in the behaviour of his fans so disconcerting that he hadn't attempted it again.

The vampires seemed to have chosen to ignore her completely. This suited her perfectly. She wanted no association with them. Only Hanabusa felt the need to continuously bother her, though she didn't mind too much. He seemed to enjoy hearing her tales of the past. He was far more experienced in the field of history than she originally would have given him credit for. While he put up a façade of immaturity and general air-headedness, he was actually very intelligent, and learned quickly. He had even managed to ask her questions about particular wars that had left her temporarily stumped, being parts she herself had not individually participated in. It was unusual for that to happen to her, and was rather invigorating. Her mind had not been so stimulated for a very long time. She would even hazard to say she found his company pleasant, for a vampire.

On one such occasion, they were discussing Leonardo da Vinci. Admittedly, Yvelta had never met the man, having isolated herself from the world in 1099 AD, but she had still managed to keep up with the main events. The Italian Renaissance had been far too interesting a period to miss. They spoke for hours, sacrificing almost all their sleep on a conversation that ranged from Renaissance art to the invention of the steam engine to the origins of the civilised world. It had given her much food for thought in terms of her opinions of vampires as a whole, realising that they may not all be as distasteful as she originally imagined. She returned to the dorms that day happy.

Kaname was in a foul mood. He had noticed that Kiryu Zero was taking far too much interest in his Yuki. It made him angry, especially when she didn't refuse it.

He stormed into Yvelta's room one morning, dragging her from her bed and slamming her against the wall.

'You,' he snarled, 'Will come with me.'

He then proceeded to drag her back to the dungeon. She could have fought him off easily, but she felt that if she did so he would attack Hanabusa in retaliation, and she was indeed becoming attached to the blond haired vampire. It would pain her to see him suffer.

Kaname threw her against the wall and put her into the manacles he had repaired. They now hung slightly away from the wall so she couldn't rest against it. He tore of her clothes with one swipe of his fingernails, baring her completely. Yvelta merely rolled her eyes. If he was aiming to embarrass her, he would be sorely disappointed.

He pulled out one of the torture instruments, a bladed hook, and stroked it against her skin almost lovingly. He dragged it from her cheek down to her stomach, around to her spine and up to the base of her neck. Then he plunged it into her flesh, pulling her to him.

'I've always wondered,' he whispered icily, 'if drinking your tainted blood would lend me your power, or merely sicken me with its disgusting taste.'

'Go ahead and try if you must.' Yvelta said through gritted teeth. Incredibly strong as she was, having a blade plunged straight through her neck still hurt.

She heard Kaname's deep laugh a moment before he sank his teeth into her neck, sliding his arms around her waist to ensure he had the best angle. She could feel the blood being pulled the wrong way from her veins. It was disconcerting to say the least.

His hands roamed over her body as he drank her blood, and Yvelta grimaced. This was not what she had expected, and it disgusted her. She didn't want him touching her at all, this was far too much. But there was nothing she could do. She would just have to wait.

Eventually he stopped. He tortured her a little more, and then stopped that, too. His hunger sated, he undid the manacles and let her drop to the floor, giving her no more regard. She left the dungeon alone.

Upon her return to the Moon Dorms, she was unpleasantly surprised to find Hanabusa looking for her. She had hoped she would be able to sneak in and wash, but unfortunately he saw her and the state of her ruined clothes. He immediately rushed over to her, concerned.

'What happened? Are you alright?' He cupped one of her cheeks in his hand and looked at her pale face with worry.

She batted his hand away. 'I'm fine.' She tried to push past him, but he grabbed her arm.

'He did this. I can smell him on you. All over you.' Hanabusa was growing angry. 'What kind of sick things did he do to you?'

'Nothing I can't handle.' Yvelta said with an air of finality, sidestepped him and headed straight for the shower to wash the experience away.

Hanabusa followed her. He waited outside the shower, almost on guard. He was already in a bad mood due to being awake during the day, but he'd felt that something was wrong and it had made him restless. His instincts had been right. Kaname was a twisted monster, not the noble pureblood he had once believed him to be.

When Yvelta emerged from the bathroom in a towel and saw Hanabusa waiting, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. He just would not give up, and she would have to accept that.

'Feel better?' He asked with a slight smile. She nodded. However, it didn't take him long to notice the bite marks on her neck and frown again.

'He drank your blood?' As he moved her hair aside to see the marks, he also noticed the wounds from the torture instruments. Unfortunately, accelerated healing was not one of Yvelta's skills, as had become painfully obvious when she had borne the first torture wounds for a couple of weeks. The gashes down her face for that time had made it difficult for people to talk to her without feeling pity or fear, often both. He shuddered to think how they would have reacted if they had seen the wounds she had hidden beneath her clothes. They had looked bad enough in the dungeon, but had been worse in the sunlight.

'Why does he do this?' Hanabusa led her to her room, covering her with his jacket over the towel as she still had no clothes.

'I have suspicions. Nothing more.' Yvelta gritted her teeth and rubbed the spot where Kaname's fangs had dug into her flesh. It was smarting.

Hanabusa noticed the movement. 'Here.' He summoned a small rectangle of ice in his palm and handed it to her. 'It should help.'

Yvelta stared at the ice. 'I was completely unaware that you have the ability to do that.' She took it, examining it. 'Sturdy, for ice. It isn't melting, which I imagine is useful in many situations.'

He smiled. She would be the one to completely forget that she was injured and unclothed in the presence of something new. He pushed her into her room and shut the door. It took her very little time to get dressed, and she looked much more comfortable in a fresh pair of pyjamas. But for some reason he couldn't help wishing that she was just wearing a towel again.

He shook the thought from his mind. 'You were saying something just before about suspicions?'

'Oh, yes.' Yvelta stretched her arms. 'But I'd rather say them in private.' She pulled him into her room. She sat on the bed, patting the spot next to her. He accepted her invitation.

'I am of the belief that the reason he tortures me so is because… Well, it has something to do with that Yuki Cross. Perhaps she is rejecting his advances. Perhaps she is disobeying him, or whatever control it is he thinks he has over her. All I know is that it has something to do with her, and it's related to sexual tension, judging by what he did.' She shivered.

Hanabusa was silent. He had suspected the same thing. That girl had always been Kaname's weak spot, his pressure point, and she was getting to him. He yawned involuntarily. He hadn't realised he was this tired. Now that he knew Yvelta was safe, he could sleep. He began to head for the door.

'Hanabusa?' A quiet voice said behind him. He turned back to Yvelta. She was playing with her fingernails and blushing ever so slightly.

'What's up?'

She took a deep breath. 'I have a favour to ask.'

He nodded. 'Go ahead.'

'I've… Been alone a very long time. Usually I enjoy the solitude, but at this moment I find myself dreading it. Would you mind terribly staying here with me until we have to go to class?' She said it with a slight rush to her voice.

He chuckled. 'Of course.'

She slipped under the covers of her bed and he lay above them, covered by a separate quilt. It was the best sleep he'd had in a long time.


	5. Chapter 5

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN VAMPIRE KNIGHT, ONLY YVELTA GRIMM**

It had been a week since Hanabusa had slept in Yvelta's room, and they had spoken little since then. It seemed that Kaname was making every effort to keep them apart, whether to spite Yvelta or protect Hanabusa, it was unclear.

On the afternoon of the seventh day since their… Encounter, for want of a better word, Yvelta was woken by louder screaming fans than usual.

'What the devil is going on?' She mumbled to herself, rubbing her eyes. The students… They were holding what appeared to be gifts. And roses. Lots of roses.

'Oh no…' Yvelta checked her calendar. Valentine's Day.

'Today is going to be utterly dreadful.' She scowled.

The walk from the Moon Dorms to class was certainly awful. The screaming made her wince. What was worse was that all the vampires were accepting it as if it was normal. Some were almost… Happy. Hanabusa and Takuma seemed to be the worst in that respect, beaming and accepting every gift they could hold. It disgusted Yvelta.

'Excuse me…' A quiet voice said from behind her as she felt something tug her sleeve. She turned, surprised to see a boy holding out a rose for her. She'd only seen him once or twice out of all the days she'd walked through these gates, and he had always hung at the back. He would have been about thirteen or fourteen years old. A mere infant in comparison to her thousands of years. His brown eyes were frightened but determined, and he pushed a lock of black hair out of his eyes while insistently holding the rose out.

Yvelta took it. 'Thank you?' She was completely bemused. A hush seemed to have fallen around them. She smiled at the boy, who blushed, smiled back, and ran off. The crowd around her started to whisper, until she gave them an icy glare, terrifying them into silence.

'Who would have thought you would have a secret admirer?' Hanabusa smirked as they walked away from the crowd.

'Silence, you insufferable parasite.' Yvelta growled irritably as she studied the rose.

'You are just as charming as ever.' Hanabusa rolled his eyes.

Class was relatively relaxed. The teachers seemed to be more on the lookout for Day Class students sneaking out than actually teaching. Yvelta took the opportunity to draw the rose, capturing its beauty before it inevitably perished, as all living things did. She was still very confused about the whole affair. She as yet failed to understand why this boy would give her a rose. It was odd, to say the least. Perhaps he had been dared by his friends. Perhaps Kaname had ordered him to do it, under threat of murdering his family or some similar disaster. Or perhaps he was merely an idiot. It was food for thought.

Hanabusa sidled over to her while the teacher was shouting at some Day Class students to return to their dorms.

'I didn't know you could draw.' He said quietly as he admired the picture.

'I believe that would be because I neglected to tell you. Or perhaps I didn't think it was any of your business.' Yvelta replied while shading the petals.

'You seem to be quite taken with your admirer.'

Yvelta raised an eyebrow. 'What on earth would give you that impression?'

'Well,' Hanabusa sat, 'You've been drawing a picture of what he gave you for the entire evening.'

Yvelta put her pencil down. 'I'm capturing the beauty of the flower before its destruction. It has nothing to do with the fool who gave it to me.'

Hanabusa laughed. 'Yeah, but it was YOU he gave it to. That's the point. Why you? Why not Ruka, or Rima or Seiren? Why you? You're obsessing over it, I can tell.'

The comment hit home. Yvelta sighed. 'Yes, it has been bothering me. I simply do not understand the gesture. I find my lack of knowledge in this area frustrating.'

This caused Hanabusa to laugh again. 'Well I suppose you had to have a lack of knowledge in something.'

Upon their return to the Moon Dorms, Yvelta took the picture out of her book. While the rose was a perfect likeness, she didn't feel that the image was complete. She drew a vase around the rose, then a mahogany coffee table, and in the background filled the space with bookshelves and old books. She put a fireplace in one corner, and a sleeping cat, but the rose was still the centre of the picture. It took her a moment to realise that this was in image of her old home. She sighed, and placed the drawing on her desk. She would give it to the boy the next time he was at the gate. It brought back too many painful memories for her to keep herself.

She headed to bed, but found herself unable to sleep, so instead she headed for the Moon Dorm library. It was an enormous room, filled with all manner of books. It was her favourite place; quiet, and filled with knowledge. There was an alcove she preferred over the others. It was next to a window that overlooked the nearby lake and forest. It reminded her of her past. She had once lived in such a spot, a long time ago.

'Daydreaming, Yvelta?'

She was shocked out of her reverie. It was Hanabusa.

'You again! Will you give me no peace?'

The blond vampire smiled impishly and sat opposite her. 'That would spoil my fun.'

Yvelta sighed and gave him her full attention. 'How may I assist you, Hanabusa?'

He gave her a piercing, almost forlorn look. 'Why are you always so formal?

She did not reply, for she did not know herself. Instead she returned to staring out of the window. Hanabusa gave up on receiving an answer to his question, and merely watched her.

'Why are you here?' She asked suddenly.

Hanabusa's curiosity was roused by her tone. It had almost been rhetorical, or even as if she was asking herself the question. He assumed that must be it, as she did not seem to be expecting an answer.

After a few minutes, she shook herself, and seemed surprised to find he was still watching her. 'Still here? You must really want something. Well, out with it. I won't wait all day.'

He smiled at her brusqueness. It was… Endearing, in a way, if a little irritating. 'I just wanted to catch up with you. We haven't spoken much lately.'

'Oh.' She sounded surprised. 'That's all.'

He stared into her purple irises and golden pupils. They didn't bother him anymore. Just like all her other traits, he was used to it by now. 'You were staring out of the window very intently. What was so interesting?'

She leaned her chin on her palms. 'The forest and lake reminded me of a past dwelling.' She waited for him to scoff, but he just sat listening. 'I once lived in Thrace, a long time ago. I had a cottage there which I built myself. I lived alone, isolated from the surrounding people by the thick forest. Violent people, the Thracians were. Warrior tribes. But they knew well enough to leave me to my own devices. It was a pleasant time, and I often regret its end.'

'Where haven't you lived?' It seemed she had been all around the world.

She smirked. 'Antarctica.'

The following afternoon, Yvelta spied the boy who had given her the flower. She crooked a finger at him, beckoning him over. He looked confused, but did as he was bid. At least the inferior being knew his place.

Yvelta pulled the drawing out of her book. 'I would like for you to have this. It is my way of expressing my thanks, as I'm afraid I find civilised conversations… Difficult.'

He took the picture with a look of wonder on his face. Yvelta nodded, and continued after the other vampires. She couldn't be sure, but she thought she saw Kaname's face twitch with anger before regaining its usual porcelain composure. It gave her a strange thrill, and she smiled a cruel smile before heading to class.


	6. Chapter 6

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN VAMPIRE KNIGHT, ONLY YVELTA GRIMM**

The harsh midday sun pounded down on the grounds of Cross Academy. It was an unusually warm day, and even the Day Class students were avoiding going outside. Yvelta, however, was revelling in it. She could escape from the vampires today. She didn't mind sacrificing sleep to do it.

She snuck out into the forest, dressed in casual clothes. The fresh air filled her with energy, and she laughed maniacally as she raced through the trees at high speed. It was the first time she had felt free since arriving at the academy.

However, the feeling was not to last. A few hundred metres from the edge of the forest, she discovered a camp. The bed rolls were empty, but there were weapons in each tent. From what she could tell, they were anti-vampire weapons. Either some hunters had gone rogue, or the Hunter Association no longer wished to uphold the truce.

She could hear someone breathing behind her. She closed her eyes. A metre to the right, and two metres back. Behind a tree. She turned as the person rushed out at her, and used her paralysing gaze to stun them. It was definitely a hunter. His expression was one of shock. Yvelta smiled. What an amusing day this was going to be.

She proceeded to pursue the rest of the hunters, paralysing them all, then returned to the academy, told the headmaster what she had found and led him to them. At his command, she released them from their paralysis.

'We'll have to wipe their memories.' Headmaster Cross muttered. Yvelta merely nodded as she tied up the hunters. They were furious.

'Just you wait until we tell the association about the animal you're keeping here!' One of them spat.

Yvelta slapped him. 'It would be wise to watch your manners in the presence of this "animal".'

He glared at her, defiant. 'I don't know what you are, but I don't care. I'm going to kill you.'

She burst out laughing. 'Oh, you pathetic excuse for a human. Do not delude yourself so. There is not a being on this earth that is capable of killing me, do not think you have even the slightest chance. I assure you, you do not.'

The hunter was astounded by her audacity. 'What sort of an arrogant idiot are you?'

He was rewarded for this remark with a kick to the shoulder. 'Firstly, my intelligence far outstrips yours. Secondly, this is not arrogance. It is statement of fact. You do not have the required skill to kill me. Accept it.'

She kicked him in the head to knock him out before he could reply.

The headmaster sighed. 'Is that level of violence really necessary?'

All he received in response was a glare.

Once the memories of the hunters had been wiped, Yvelta returned to the Moon Dorms. Her day of freedom had been ruined. She should have known that would happen.

Hanabusa was sitting on one of the exquisite sofas in the entry hall. It seemed he had just awoken. His hair was ruffled from sleep, and he yawned, baring his fangs as he did so. Yvelta couldn't help but smile. It was a little cute. But before she could say hello, she was pulled roughly into another room.

'Did you enjoy your little sojourn today?' Kaname's voice snarled in her ear before he ripped his nails down her face.

'No, actually.' She replied as emotionlessly as she could while blood began to leak out of the tiny wounds. Once again they were nothing but superficial cuts. She almost wished he could do more damage to her, if only so she'd have the thrill of being frightened by something for once in her life.

'Well, I'm glad it didn't turn out as well as you planned.' He snarled again as he began hitting her in earnest, using some of his powers to knock her back.

'Are you aware that your torture requirements are becoming more frequent and prolonged?' Yvelta stated matter-of-factly.

Kaname ignored her, continuing to hit her.

'I have a theory.' She said between the blows. 'I think you have more pent-up sexual frustration than you can handle and you're taking it out on me as a way of relieving it.'

He paused for a moment. 'That is your theory, is it?'

'Yes, it is.'

'Then perhaps to relieve the sexual frustration, I should merely have sex with you.' He leered at her.

Yvelta shrugged. 'You can try.'

Try he did. He jumped at her various times, but every time she knocked him back into the wall. It took him half an hour to give up. He was battered and broken, and Yvelta had only a few scratches.

'Have you ever considered merely talking to the girl who frustrates you so?'

Kaname tried to hit her, but she dodged lazily, grabbed his arm and slammed his face into the nearest table.

'It's not that simple.' He managed to growl.

'Oh, so she's not interested then. How unfortunate for you. Grow up.' Yvelta released him disdainfully. Kaname straightened his clothes and regained his composure, despite the broken bones. Yvelta surveyed him with impassive eyes. He glared back.

'You need to resolve this. I can guarantee that taking your frustrations out on me will solve nothing.'

He gave her a strange look. 'You're being unusually civil. Aside from the beating I just received.'

Yvelta's mouth crooked up in a half smile. 'I've had ten thousand years to temper my rage. Now instead of revenge I seek purpose.'

'You were never designed to have a purpose.' Kaname's tone was flat.

'Oh, I'm fully aware of that. You designed me to be nothing but an answer to a question that burned your consciousness. But as I have fulfilled that question, it falls to you to give me new purpose, or to me to find myself one.'

Kaname began to walk towards the door. 'I'll leave that endeavour in your… Capable hands. I want nothing more to do with you.'

Yvelta laughed once the door was shut. He wanted nothing to do with her? Well, that suited her perfectly. Now she could ultimately do as she pleased. If Kaname no longer wished to torment her, he would no longer use Hanabusa as a threat. Ergo, Hanabusa was safe.

She left the room with a large smile on her face to find Hanabusa on the couch, paler than she had ever seen him. He seemed to have heard the entire exchange. It must have been terribly disturbing.

'You're safe now.' She smiled and kissed his forehead before heading to her room to clean up. Hanabusa was left to ponder the situation in solitude, wishing he had slept in instead of getting up early to see Yvelta. He headed up to his room, feeling a headache coming on, and bumped into Akatsuki.

'Are you alright?' Akatsuki seemed very concerned.

'Kaname…' Hanabusa's voice was shaking. 'He's a monster.'


	7. Chapter 7

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN VAMPIRE KNIGHT, ONLY YVELTA GRIMM**

Akatsuki pulled Hanabusa into their shared room. 'What the hell are you talking about, saying Kaname's a monster?'

Hanabusa was still very pale. 'You don't know why she's here, do you?'

Akatsuki looked confused. 'Who?'

'Yvelta.'

The older vampire shook his head.

Hanabusa sat on his bed. 'He… He was torturing her.'

It took a moment for Akatsuki to understand Hanabusa. 'I'm sorry, what?'

'He tortured her. You remember when she first came in here? The blood all over her? The gashes on her face and body? That was him.'

Hanabusa was shaking like a leaf. Akatsuki made him a cup of tea, dropping a blood tablet in it.

'If he was torturing her, why didn't she escape? She seems like she can handle herself.'

Hanabusa's eyes glinted. 'I know. Believe me, I know.'

'So why stay?'

'Because Hanabusa would be his next victim.' Yvelta's melodic voice sounded with deadly intensity from the doorway. The two vampires whipped around.

'What are you doing here?' Akatsuki demanded.

'Is it not blatantly obvious?' She responded with distaste. When Akatsuki didn't answer, she rolled her eyes. 'I'm answering your question, obviously.'

He snarled at her. 'The question wasn't aimed at you.'

'Oh, then would you prefer that I stand here silently whilst you discuss something you know nothing about, you insolent fool?' Her regal bearing chilled him. She may have been acting in a superior manner, but right now he felt it was warranted. Something emanated from her that just made him want to back down.

It disappeared when Hanabusa's hand touched Yvelta's shoulder. 'It's alright. We can trust him.'

Yvelta glared at Akatsuki with cold, calculating eyes before turning to Hanabusa. The colour of those eyes still unsettled Akatsuki. It just wasn't right.

Yvelta sighed and nodded her head. 'Very well. But should he betray our trust, he shall pray fervently for death when I am done with him.'

Akatsuki didn't doubt it. He had a feeling there was far more to her than he had expected.

Around half an hour later, Hanabusa and Yvelta left the room. Akatsuki was on the bed, shocked. The words _she isn't possible_ kept running through his head. He had to know if she was lying.

He raced to the library, heading for the archives. There had to be something here, surely, but after hours of searching he had found nothing.

'Damn it…'

Hanabusa and Yvelta walked through the forest in silence. It was clear that Yvelta was irritated with him. He shouldn't have said so much to Akatsuki without her permission.

A commotion to their left stopped them. Somebody was screaming. They looked at each other and ran towards it.

Soon they could hear laughter mingled with the screams. They came to the same clearing where Yvelta had found the hunter encampment. It was occupied again, by another three hunters who had pinned a Day Class student against a tree, apparently for sport.

'Didn't think I'd be getting a slice of pie on this hunt,' one leered at the girl as he ran a finger up her thigh, making her scream again.

A moment later his head left his body. It dropped, revealing Yvelta, completely calm and composed, hand covered in blood.

'You were correct,' she informed the hunter's motionless severed head. 'You will receive no slice of pie.'

Two seconds later the next hunter was screaming as Yvelta tore off his arms and legs, then shoved a fist straight through his sternum to his heart, pulling it out. Hanabusa vomited. The Day Class girl had fainted. That left the last hunter, who was rooted to the spot with pure terror.

'Consider yourself lucky, human.' Yvelta snarled. 'You will remain alive. For now.'

She knocked him out, threw his body over her shoulder, and picked up the Day Class girl. 'She'll need her memory wiped. She's lucky she wasn't raped.'

Hanabusa seemed to have recovered, but only slightly. 'How can you tell?'

'I'd be able to smell it,' She responded quietly before walking away, effortlessly carrying the two unconscious humans.

In the headmaster's office, the Day Class girl's memory was being wiped. The hunter was still knocked out. He was to be interrogated.

Headmaster Cross had Yuki come in for the Day Class girl.

'Grimm, Aido, hello.' She said as she looked over the victim with concern.

'Hello,' they both responded.

The affair was over quickly. The girl was taken to her dorm and the hunter was injected with sodium thiopental, a barbiturate that acted as a truth serum. While not infallible, it would be effective enough for their purposes.

'Where did you even find that?' Hanabusa asked as Yvelta finished injecting the hunter.

'Never you mind,' She answered with a half-smile.

It turned out the hunters sent to the Academy were under orders from the Association, who seemed to be unhappy with the truce.

'They will become even more so when they find out what happened to the other two hunters,' Headmaster Cross looked pointedly at Yvelta.

She merely shrugged. 'I'll handle it.'

In a moment she was gone.

It had been a week since the incident. Yvelta was still missing. After leaving the headmaster's office, she had simply disappeared. Hanabusa was worried. She should have told someone where she was going. However, judging by her final comment, he was fairly certain she was at the Hunter Association headquarters. He was going to travel after class tonight to make sure she was okay.

After the classes, he started packing some gear, but was interrupted by Kaname.

'Good evening, Hanabusa.' His silky voice sounded oddly snakelike this evening.

'Technically it's morning…' Hanabusa muttered. 'Good evening, Dorm President Kuran.'

Kaname walked further into the room. 'Going somewhere?'

An obvious question. 'I'm checking on Yvelta. It's been a week.'

Suddenly Kaname slapped Hanabusa. He spun around in shock.

'You will not leave the campus, Hanabusa.' Kaname's voice was dangerously calm. 'You will leave her to her fate.'

'Her fate?' Hanabusa paled.

Kaname didn't answer. He left the room, leaving a chill in his wake.

In the Hunter Association headquarters, in a hidden part of the basement, Yvelta was being held captive. However this time the torture was a little worse than Kaname's. Apparently the Hunter Association knew at least partly what she was, and had managed to find an anti-werewolf weapon. She was bleeding profusely, but it wasn't enough to cause any lasting damage.

'This all stops when you tell us what we want to know,' one of the two hunters torturing her said.

Yvelta laughed. 'Playing good cop, bad cop, are we? Do not treat me like a fool. I am well aware that this situation ends with my demise. You would never let such an abomination exist.'

The hunters looked at each other. 'Fine,' the second hunter said, 'Yes, we're going to kill you. May as well answer our questions. We'll make your death quick if you do.'

Again she laughed. 'You cannot kill me. You have neither the power nor the tools. You can try all you want, but you will fail.'

They were becoming frustrated. They began torturing her again. While the wounds were deeper than the ones Kaname inflicted upon her, they still weren't enough to even slightly worry her. But she had to stay. She didn't have the information she needed yet.

'If you're apparently going to kill me anyway, I think it is only fair if you answer some questions of mine, don't you?' She gave them her most seductive smile. Being part siren came in handy at times like this. The two men visibly weakened.

'Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt,' the first one laughed. 'Ask away, pretty lady.'

'Why thank you. I was hoping you could tell me why you are sending groups of hunters to Cross Academy? Surely you don't think that four will be enough to do any serious damage? What is their real purpose there?'

The hunters looked at each other. 'Well to be honest, we're… Not at a high enough clearance level for that information…'

'Oh, what a shame. I was going to have so much fun with the two of you. Well, there is clearly no point now, is there?' And with that, she tore the manacles from herself and crushed the skulls of the hunters.

'Yvelta, you really need to curb your violence…' She muttered to herself. 'It's so messy.'

It had taken Yvelta just over an hour to fight her way through the hunters to the most fortified parts of the building. There had been so many hunters there that she had been forced to use many of her abilities just to push back the sheer number of them. Eventually she had gotten tired of the fighting and willed her wings to sprout forth, utterly ruining her outfit, but allowing her to fly at speed over the heads of the hunters and straight to her destination: the president's office. However, those damned hunters had followed her. The pile of bodies in front of her was testament to that. Some she had turned permanently to stone with her medusean eyes, others had been crushed by her incredible strength, whereas the rest had succumbed to her superior fighting ability.

'May Odin have mercy on your fighting spirits, and your souls forever await Ragnarok at the gates of Valhalla,' she prayed as the last vestiges of her Valkyrie blood calmed down. She could finally enter the president's office.

It was deserted. Obviously it was the president's day off. How fortunate for them. Yvelta rifled through all the papers she could find, eventually stumbling across the plans for Cross Academy.

'Complete annihilation? Even of the human students who reside there? That seems a little harsh…' She continued reading. The plans got worse. The Association were preparing for a full-scale war, and had been given leave to kill anyone and anything in their way. The hunters sent to Cross Academy were just reconnaissance teams.

'No… The collateral damage will be horrific. This is terrible…'

She was about to leave when something caught her eye. A file with the word 'Grimm' written on the front.

'Hello… What's this?' She mused as she pulled it out. She paled as she read. It was the history of her, until now, lost original bloodline. The line of blood oracles. They had been all but wiped out around three thousand years ago, in the eleventh Hunter-Vampire war. Not only was she the only one of her kind in the sense of the species she was, but she was also the final blood oracle. She had never really been interested in her family, considering the fact that they were going to execute her, but in her current quest for new purpose, this seemed like a good place to start. She took the file with her, along with the file on Cross Academy, and made the trip back.

'Yvelta!' Hanabusa shouted as he saw her coming through the door, face shrouded in concern at the state of her clothes and the blood covering her body. 'What happened? Are you alright? Why were you gone so long?'

She laughed. 'So many questions, so little will to answer them. Give me a brief interlude in which to clean myself up, and I promise that afterwards you will have my undivided attention.'

Hanabusa sighed. 'Alright. But make it quick.'

He paced outside her room as she showered, and was about to knock on her door to check if she was ready yet when she opened it, completely clean and in unsoiled clothing.

'You have my attention. Which question would you like me to answer first?'

Hanabusa didn't say anything, he just pulled her into his arms. Yvelta was so shocked she couldn't move.

'Please don't ever do that again.' Hanabusa whispered in her ear, voice breaking slightly.

Yvelta pushed herself away enough to see his face. 'I was only gone for a little over a week. What's wrong? You look as if you've barely slept.'

'Nothing, just…' Hanabusa struggled to put what he was thinking into words. 'I was worried that something had happened to you.'

That caused her to raise an eyebrow. 'Something happen? To me? Are you forgetting that I am, for all intents and purposes, invulnerable to serious harm?'

'Just don't do it again, okay?' He hugged her again.

'Okay…' She was still confused. 'Now don't you think you should be getting to bed? It's the middle of the day, you'll have to be up for class in a few hours.'

Hanabusa sighed. 'I don't want to go to class… But you're right. I'll see you soon.' He hugged her more tightly for a moment and then headed to his own room. Yvelta shook her head and went to get some sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN VAMPIRE KNIGHT, ONLY YVELTA GRIMM**

Yvelta couldn't wait for class to end that night. She had to speak to Headmaster Cross urgently. The file was in her room, she hadn't wanted to take it with her. It was safely locked away.

Hanabusa noticed her agitation. He put a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. She smiled tightly at him, but there was no change.

At the conclusion of lessons, she raced back to the Moon Dorms without a word to anybody. She grabbed the file from her room and was about to leave when the air chilled and she was pushed against a wall.

'I don't have time for your issues, Kaname!' Yvelta growled in frustration as the pureblood silently entered her room. 'I thought you didn't want anything to do with me.'

He said nothing, just took the file from her. He flicked through it, handed it back and left the room.

'Rude…' Yvelta muttered as she brushed herself off and went to Kaien Cross' office.

Kaname had beaten her there. They were already discussing the file.

'Here comes the courier now.' Kaname said lazily as Yvelta opened the door, fuming.

'Yvelta! Come in!' The headmaster clapped his hands together with apparent delight. Hardly befitting the current situation, but then he was a little odd.

'Good evening, headmaster.' Yvelta bowed slightly before handing over the file.

'This is awful!' Cross exclaimed as he flicked through the plan.

'The Hunter Association has never been comfortable with the arrangement. It was only a matter of time before something of this nature happened.' Kaname's voice lacked its characteristic superiority. He seemed… Afraid.

'I won't let her be harmed.' Cross quietly reassured the pureblood.

Of course. He was worried for Yuki. He'd been seeing her more lately. It was making the Day Class girls jealous. They seemed to be shunning her. Clearly his attachment to her was only growing stronger.

'We need to be prepared.' Yvelta cut in. 'When they come in force, and they will, we need to be ready.'

Kaname and the headmaster looked at her.

'What would you suggest?' Kaname's voice regained its superior disdain.

'We fight.'

The headmaster spluttered. 'That's ridiculous! We can't make the students fight!'

A chilling set of purple and gold eyes turned on him. 'Their deaths will be on your head if you deny them the right to defend themselves. I will train them. All of them.' She looked pointedly at Kaname.

'The Night Class needs no training.' It was clear he was unhappy about this.

'The Night Class are undisciplined. Their power will be useless without knowing how to use it effectively. They will die.' Yvelta's voice held such an air of finality that even Kaname couldn't argue. She was confident, he had to give her that. Despite his disgust he found it strangely alluring. Someone so utterly different to Yuki who was so fragile, so delicate, so… Human.

Yvelta noticed the change in Kaname's demeanour and sighed inwardly. _Here we go again…_

Training began that afternoon. She woke up all the vampires two hours early, much to their chagrin, and explained what was going on.

'We don't need to train,' Akatsuki summoned fire in his palm, 'We know how to fight.'

'Is that so?' Yvelta's eyes flashed, and she twisted his arm, pinched a nerve and threw him over her shoulder onto the floor, eliciting gasps and exclamations of anger from the other vampires.

'I can't use my power!' Akatsuki's worried voice sounded from the floor.

'Correct. No powers. You need to know how to fight like everybody else, or you won't know how to counter them. You will all receive this nerve pinch to ensure that, should temptation take hold, you will not use powers. Understood?'

She had become an army general, a captain, and a harsh one, too. It was as if she was back in the past, with the Amazons. She'd been hard on them, too, but at least they had dealt with it. This lot just complained.

'Ow!' Hanabusa yelped as Yvelta tripped him to the floor.

'Harden up, princess.' Yvelta growled.

But the others were just as bad.

'Have none of you had any battle training? At all?' She asked helplessly. They shook their heads. Yvelta ran a hand through her hair. 'Alright then… We'll take this from the basics…'

She then proceeded to teach them basic fighting techniques from various fighting styles. Luckily, when taught properly they were quick learners. But all too soon their time was up, and they had to get ready for class.

Upon leaving the dorms, they were greeted by the usual screaming fans. Yvelta's admirer was there today. She smiled and beckoned him over. He would be very useful.

His name was Kyru. She gave him the job of finding out who in the Sun Dorms knew how to fight. He knew kendo and karate, but he wasn't sure about the rest of the people, and promised to check for her. She gave him her nicest smile before heading to class.

Lessons dragged. All the vampires were agitated. Even the teachers could feel it. When the final class ended, everybody filed out instantly. Rima and Senri were eating pocky as if it were their last day on earth, a testament to their nervousness.

'They're so young…' Yvelta said to herself, looking at them sadly.

'Hmm?' Hanabusa said from next to her. She must have spoken out loud.

'Nothing.'

But Hanabusa wouldn't let it go. When they got back to the Moon Dorms he followed her to her room.

'Tell me what's wrong.' He demanded, shutting the door behind him.'

Yvelta said nothing. She was too busy trying to work out how she was going to save them all. It didn't currently seem possible.

She was jolted out of her reverie when Hanabusa's hands slid around her waist. He pulled her close, mouth resting on top of her head. 'What are you afraid of?'

She couldn't think. What was he doing? It felt good, but she couldn't understand what it was that he was attempting to do. She struggled a little due to her confusion, but he wouldn't let her go.

He spun her around in his arms.

'Hanabusa, what are you-'

He kissed her, interrupting he question. It was tentative at first, as if he was using it to gauge her reaction. When Yvelta didn't pull away, he deepened it, tongue sliding over her lips.

Something awoke within her, some burning desire that was unlike anything she'd felt before in her ten thousand years. She gripped Hanabusa, needing him, pushing him against the wall so he couldn't escape. But it wasn't enough for her, she needed more. She bit his lip, drawing blood, failing to notice Hanabusa's eyes turning red. He pushed her away from him, trying to regain control of himself. She was just too intense. He gave her a deeply apologetic look before he walked towards the door.

Something grabbed his hand as he reached for the door handle. It was Yvelta, a pleading look on her face.

'Do not leave, I beg you…' Her voice was strangled.

He sighed inwardly. It was cruel of him to leave like this. He at least owed her an explanation.

'I can't stay. You're… Too intense. I almost lost control. I don't know how, seeing as the only blood spilled was mine, but somehow you pushed me to the edge. It's too dangerous. If it happened again I'd probably forcefully drain your blood, and you don't want that.'

Yvelta's face was pink. 'Then I offer it to you freely.' She turned her head to the side, exposing her neck. 'If you wish, take it.'

Her sudden submissiveness confused him. This was not the side of her he was accustomed to. Where was her fire?

'Why are you doing this?' He asked, the confusion being enough to distract him from his hunger for blood.

Her eyes held that pleading look again, but this time were also determined. 'I would not lose you.'

Hanabusa shook his head. 'You don't have to give me your blood for that. Besides, what we don't know the full effects that your blood would have.'

Yvelta's eyes narrowed. 'Kaname speculated about the same thing. I never found out the result.'

'I did.' Hanabusa looked at her with something akin to pity in his eyes. 'His powers grew, but he was physically weaker, almost sick from it. I can't ever drink your blood for the fear that the same will happen to me. And I only saw a small number of the effects. I still don't know the full extent.'

Yvelta walked almost unsteadily to her bed and sat down. 'If you knew all this before, then why would you tease me so? It is nothing but cruel.'

He had never seen her so vulnerable. Regret swelled in his chest, and he went to her. 'I wasn't expecting you to reciprocate so… Ferociously.'

He could almost feel her emotions radiating from her, but before long she had regained her distant, formal demeanour.

'I am afraid I must ask you to leave.' She said with a flat tone. 'I have much work to do.'

Hanabusa sighed. 'You don't have to-'

'Leave. Now.' Her cold voice cut like a knife.

What a fool she had been to believe they wanted the same thing. She should never have broken her rule of not forming attachments. It was something that she learned a long time ago, in the Trojan War. She had seen her comrades fall under the onslaught of the enemy soldiers. She had heard the wailing and crying of prisoners from both sides as they saw their friends die. It was then that she had decided she would never put herself through such pain. But here, thousands of years later, she had broken her vow and had paid the price. Not only had she been rejected, there was every possibility that in the inevitable battle with the Hunter Association, whenever that would be, Hanabusa would die.

'Yvelta, you fool. You utter, hopeless fool.' She berated herself when Hanabusa was gone. She had to get out. It was stifling in here. She opened her window and jumped down, landing silently in the grounds below. The town. That's where she would go.

The town stank. Yvelta wasn't sure what it was, but it just smelt wrong. She was on her guard, feeling constantly watched.

A waft of a smell she recognised made her bristle. That damned Yuki was here. But that wasn't allowed, it was past curfew…

Yvelta followed the scent. The unpleasant smell that had kept her on guard since she got here became stronger, and she heard a scream. She began to run.

The stupid human had been cornered by some kind of monstrous, out of control vampire. Before Yvelta got there, that secret vampire, Zero, saved Yuki. His moves weren't bad, for a rookie. It wasn't long before Shiki Senri and Ichijo Takuma arrived and destroyed the vampire. Yvelta overheard them explaining to Yuki that it was a Level E vampire, one that no longer had any form of control and was nothing but a beast. Interesting. Yvelta hadn't known that vampires had different levels. She would have to look into it further.

When the others left, she snuck out and studied the ashes that were all that remained of the Level E. She took some and put them in her pocket, to study them later in the chemistry labs.

She continued her sojourn through the town for a little longer, encountering another Level E and dispatching it with minimal effort. They were disappointingly weak, seemingly so consumed by their blood lust that any intention of self-preservation was non-existent.

When her anger and sorrow had dissipated somewhat, Yvelta returned to the Moon Dorms. They were silent; the vampires were all in class. She dressed in her Night Class clothes, grabbed her books, and headed to class herself, completely ignoring everyone when she arrived, sitting as far apart from them as possible. The teacher didn't even notice her come in.

When classes were over, she could see that Hanabusa was struggling with the idea of talking to her. She took the choice away, leaving before he had a chance. She had other things to worry about right now.

Hanabusa looked at her retreating figure forlornly. He'd overreacted earlier. Did he honestly think he would be capable of drinking all her blood? Somebody as strong as her, who could snap him like a twig with two fingers? It was only her direct ignorance of him that allowed him to realise how deeply he cared for her, how much he needed her. But how could he fix this, before it was too late?


	9. Chapter 9

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN VAMPIRE KNIGHT, ONLY YVELTA GRIMM**

Two weeks had passed, and Yvelta was continuing to ignore Hanabusa. Hell hath no fury, as the saying goes. He was doing his best to ensure that he wasn't demonstrating his emotions, continuing to act as Idol to the Day Class girls and only staring forlornly after Yvelta when nobody was looking.

Yvelta had once again become her cold, aloof self, protecting herself from further emotional harm. It was completely alienating her from the other Night Class students, but she refused to let herself care. She still trained them, but she was even harsher than before, and there was very little improvement. Her admirer Kyru had reported that many of the Day Class students had martial arts training, and she had taking up teaching them when her own classes were over. However, they were terrified of her, which meant they didn't listen as well as they would otherwise, so that wasn't working either. Eventually she gave up. She couldn't train them when they were so undisciplined. That weekend, she disappeared. She needed to be somewhere familiar to her, so she returned to the only place she could: her home.

She held the land under a different name, and hadn't been there for years. Dust layered every surface, but she left it untouched. Instead, she entered the cellar. There was no alcohol inside, only training dummies, weapons and anything else that she would need to practice her fighting skills. Strong and capable she may have been, but training was still a necessity and she had neglected it for a while.

She started out in basic black training clothes, and after she was satisfied that her skills were sufficient, she opened up one of the storage cupboards to reveal, in all its glory, a full set of armour and a gleaming obsidian single-headed battle axe, blade curved to a wicked point. The armour was some form of coloured metal, burnished to such a deep red that it was almost black itself, but it shone crimson in the light. Vicious spikes sprouted from the shoulder guards and the helmet looked like some form of hellish crown. She pulled the armour on and hefted the battle axe in her hand, willing her wings to sprout through the gaps in the cuirass. This was no simple suit of armour. She had forged it for herself under the guidance of a master blacksmith in times long past, using techniques that had been lost to the ages. With her wings stretched out to full length, deep red feathers edged with black whispering softly, she was a vision of demonic fury.

She trained hard, harder than she ever had before in order to make up for the lack of skill of her classmates. She trained for the whole weekend, heading back on the Sunday evening, absolutely exhausted but feeling cleansed of her toxic emotions. In a sudden fit of fancy, she decided to fly over the grounds back to the Academy. She had never seen it from above. She had neglected to remove her armour, feeling it necessary to take it with her, so the flight was more difficult than usual but it was a good way to build up more strength.

There was somebody in the forest. One of the Night Class. Hanabusa. What was he doing out past curfew? It seemed he was patrolling. Of course, they would have put someone on to check for hunters, and night classes would have finished by now.

A cruel smile twisted Yvelta's features as she spiralled down to the ground at speed to the clearing Hanabusa was in. When she hit the ground, the impact sent out a shockwave, knocking him over. He was up again in an instant, balls of fire hovering above each palm, but he quailed slightly at the figure that towered in front of him.

'Hold, Hanabusa!' Yvelta's voice thundered through the clearing. 'Attack me at your peril.'

'Y-Yvelta?' He stammered. He'd recognise that melodic voice anywhere.

She removed her helmet. 'It's dangerous to be out alone. Who knows what sort of monsters might be hiding in the dark?'

Right now, Hanabusa was quite sure he was staring at one of them.

Yvelta laughed throatily. 'No need to look so terrified. I'll protect you.'

'Yeah, well, right now you're looking kinda scary, so…' He twiddled his thumbs ashamedly, but gave her an accusing look. 'You left again.'

'Hmm?' She looked up from wiping dirt off her taloned boots.

'You left. Again. After I asked you not to.' He was acting like a petulant child.

'Considering the circumstances of our last meeting, I assumed the previous agreement was void.' She said with an edge to her voice.

'Well it wasn't. You can't just go like that and not tell anyone.' He put a hand on each of her shoulders, deftly avoiding the spikes.

'Present to me someone who can stop me and I may begin to listen. Until then, do not presume to tell me what I may and may not do.' She glared at him.

He sighed. 'Why are you so hostile lately? Do you fear attachment that much?'

She pushed his hands off her shoulders and stormed off, not at all happy with where the conversation was going. Hanabusa followed her. He refused to ruin this again.

'Yvelta, wait!' He shouted after her, but she refused to listen. He was amazed by how quickly she was moving considering how heavy the armour and battle axe looked. But soon he caught up. Armour was a significant hindrance in an unkempt forest.

'Why are you running away?' Hanabusa panted as Yvelta tried to untangle herself from a bush.

'Running away? I resent such an accusation!'

'Then what are you doing?' Hanabusa pulled her leg out of the offending plant.

Yvelta sighed. 'I'm trying to protect you. All of you.'

'By disappearing for days at a time?'

'By training in the only place I can.' She glared at him.

'Oh? And where's that?'

'Home.'

They walked back to the dorms in silence.

Upon entering the Moon Dorms, Yvelta was confronted by Kaname. He tried to slap her, but she caught his hand.

'You will not leave the grounds unsupervised again.' He said tonelessly, as if he hadn't just tried to hurt her.

'You will not attempt to discipline me.' Yvelta retorted, dropping Kaname's hand.

He eyed her armour, guessing what it was for. 'Your trip was unnecessary. After your massacre of the hunters, they have withdrawn their plan to attack the Academy. Instead, they ask for your head.'

Yvelta laughed. 'If only I could be decapitated. How unfortunate for them.'

Kaname did not share in her merriment. 'We will be delivering you to the Association tomorrow.'

Her eyes narrowed. 'By what authority do you presume to have the right? It is my head, not yours.'

Kaname inclined his head. 'I foresaw this reaction, which is why I invited the Hunter Association here this morning to take you by force.'

As he spoke, hunters emerged from various hiding places, and the door opened to reveal a force of around a hundred waiting outside.

'After your attack, the Association was forced to call in its international operatives. All of them.' Kaname gestured outside.

'Hanabusa, get back. Now.' Yvelta said quietly. He did as he was told with reluctance, worried about her.

'I will admit, I was not expecting you to return so arrayed with armour and weapons.' Kaname faced her before moving out of the way.

Yvelta snorted. 'I won't need it for them. Is this all the Association has to offer?'

There were growls and jeers at her words.

'You have confidence for such a small group. May your journey to Valhalla's gates be swift.' She drew her axe.

'Stop! Stop this madness!' Headmaster Cross forced his way through the ranks of hunters. Yvelta turned to him, a look of pity in her eyes. He was trying so hard to make Cross Academy work. So very hard. But all things had to come to an end at some point.

'Please, this is not the place to settle your differences! Have pity for the students who reside here. Do you really want to expose your existence to the entire world? An entire dorm full of students is just over there,' he gestured in the direction of the Sun Dorms, 'and all of them have phones, computers, all sorts of social networking devices, meaning this would be uploaded to the internet instantly. Do you really want that to happen? Are you ready for the consequences of that action?'

The hunters looked suddenly worried. They clearly hadn't thought of that in their scramble to destroy the object of their hatred.

'Yvelta, please…' He turned to her, almost begging. 'Please don't do this. Not here.'

Well, at least somebody knew that no hunters would be left to tell the tale. Yvelta nodded and sheathed her axe. 'As you wish, headmaster.'

The hunters slowly began to retreat.

'Watch your back, freak. We'll get you.' One of them snarled at her as he left.

'If I was paid for the number of times I had heard that, I would be rolling in money.' Yvelta responded. 'If you do find my back unwatched, I guarantee you it will make no difference. Now shoo. Begone, filthy peasant.'

As the last of the hunters disappeared, Hanabusa rushed out. 'Are you alright?' He spun Yvelta around to look at her.

'Stop mollycoddling.' She swatted his hand away, but was smiling.

Kaname seemed less than pleased. He had clearly wanted her to be removed from the grounds, and therefore removed from his sight. Unfortunately, he would be given no such relief. He stormed back into the Moon Dorms, windows cracking as he passed them.

'Will his temper issues never dissipate?' Yvelta wondered aloud. Headmaster Cross and Hanabusa looked at her strangely. She gave them a small smile and wandered back into the dorms herself. Only when she arrived at her room did she realise that Hanabusa had followed her. He was holding something in his hands, a package of some sort.

'What can I do for you, Hanabusa?' She resignedly let go of her door handle.

'Oh, nothing, it's just… You were away for the weekend so you didn't hear about Takuma's party. It's tomorrow night. I wasn't sure if you had any nice clothes and your door was locked, so… I bought you something. Here.' He handed it to her, looking slightly abashed.

'Oh dear, a party? I've never been one for parties, but I suppose I can make an exception…' She unwrapped the gift. Inside was a beautiful deep purple, almost midnight satin cocktail dress spangled with gold. It had a modest strapless cut, but even so was more revealing than anything she would usually wear. However, in order to not appear ungrateful, she went to try it on. It fit her as if it had been made for her.

'How did you know my size?' She asked him with narrowed eyes as she emerged from her room. He had even bought matching shoes to go with it. She walked unsteadily in them, the idea of high heels utterly alien to her.

'Oh, I have an eye for that sort of thing.' He said with obvious glee. 'You get to know that stuff when you're a model. Sizes are easy.'

His comment made her snort. 'Have I ever told you that you sometimes act like a complete pansy? Honestly, I've just come back from a weekend of training to kill, returned in a complete set of armour, and here you are talking about clothing sizes… I wonder sometimes if you truly grasp what is going on around you.'

He raised an eyebrow at her. 'I understand more than you think. I just reflect it with common nonsense. But that doesn't mean I don't see it.'

'Hmm.' Yvelta looked thoughtfully at him. 'Well, at any rate thank you for the dress. It is… Tolerable, I suppose.'

Hanabusa laughed. 'I'm sure you find that dress about as tolerable as the rest of us find you.'

She hit him. 'Uncalled for. I am a pillar of all that is tolerable in society. Now stay there, I need to get changed.'

He smiled while he waited. It seemed that their earlier awkwardness and avoidance was over. At last.


	10. Chapter 10

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN VAMPIRE KNIGHT, ONLY YVELTA GRIMM**

For Yvelta, the preparation for Takuma's party had been a trial. Not only had she needed to find a present in less than twenty four hours, she also had to deal with the alien process of making herself look respectable.

As she pulled on the dress and put her hair in a ponytail she inspected herself. She looked… Average. Good enough.

However, 'close enough is good enough' was not an attitude that Hanabusa shared in this department. As she exited her room, he shook his head and pushed her back in.

'Not acceptable.' He pulled her ponytail out. He then proceeded to rummage around in her drawers with increasing frustration as he apparently failed to find what he was looking for.

'Where are your hair products?'

Yvelta's brows furrowed in confusion. 'My what?'

'Hairspray, mousse, curler, that stuff. Don't tell me you don't have any…'

She just shrugged, still not understanding what he was talking about.

'Of course you don't. Stay there.' He sighed, and walked out of the room, went through his own room and them through Rima's after she grudgingly gave him permission. He returned presently, arms full of things Yvelta had never seen before.

'This is what you need.'

Yvelta was bewildered. 'All of that for… My hair?'

'It sure is.' He began using the different products, experimenting with different styles. Eventually he gave up on the more difficult hairdos and settled on curling her hair and putting it in a side ponytail that rested on her left shoulder. He curled her fringe, too.

'Much better. Now makeup… Which judging by the look on your face, you also don't have.' He sighed again. 'This weekend we are going on a much needed shopping trip. You can't live in this day and age without this stuff.'

'I seem to be doing perfectly well without it so far,' Yvelta grumbled.

Hanabusa laughed. 'My apologies, someone who doesn't spend all their time fighting and actually thinks about things other than their next opponent can't live without this stuff.' He returned to Rima's room for some of her makeup.

Yvelta grumbled more as he applied foundation and blush to her face.

'It's itchy! I don't want to wear it!'

He flicked her shoulder. 'Don't be a child. You need to make a good impression tonight. It's polite.'

He put some plum lipstick on her lips, followed by a deep crimson, slightly narrower so it was rimmed by the purple.

'This tastes weird…'

'You're not supposed to eat it!' Hanabusa exclaimed as Yvelta licked her lips, and expression of distaste on her face.

'Then why did you put it on my mouth? The mouth is for food. Surely you know that, I've seen you eat.' Her eyes twinkled.

He gave a resigned sigh and reapplied it before moving on to her eyes.

She fidgeted the whole time. 'People do this to themselves willingly?' She said when he was done.

'Usually it doesn't take that long, because they're not fighting against it.' Hanabusa growled as he packed up the makeup to return to Rima's room.

'It seems like a ridiculous waste of time to me.' She looked so different. She didn't recognise herself. It was very unnerving.

'Well at least you look acceptable now.' He smiled at his handiwork.

'I thoroughly dislike it. If they cannot accept me as I am, I should not be forced to put on this ridiculous… _Makeup_… To be more palatable. It's insulting.

Hanabusa just shook his head and left the room.

'You have to look nice, it's polite.' Yvelta imitated Hanabusa as she practiced walking in her heels.

'I'm afraid nice is not possible for you.' A chilling voice drawled from the doorway.

Yvelta turned her head slightly. 'Always complimentary, Kaname, aren't you?'

'I see Hanabusa was set loose on your face. He has tried valiantly, but it is impossible to hide the ugliness of such an abomination. You should tell him to stop wasting his time on such a fruitless pursuit.'

Yvelta smirked. 'So how's that charm of yours working on Yuki?'

The windows cracked as Kaname left the room, leaving the monster he created laughing in his wake.

Takuma's party was very civil. There were a few vampires Yvelta didn't recognise, presumably his friends from outside the academy.

She stayed off to one side for most of the evening, only approaching the crowd to wish Takuma a happy birthday and to give him his present. It was an old painting by Raphael. She had overheard Takuma express an interest in his work, and, being as old as she was, happened to have several. She wasn't particularly fond of it, but had managed to travel to one of her safehouses in the area, grab it, and come back. She had safehouses all over the world. They were necessary when you were a creature like her.

He seemed to appreciate the gift, amazed that she had an original painting. But soon he was caught up talking to other guests, so she retreated back to the shadows.

For some reason, Yuki and Zero showed up. That piqued her interest, but only slightly. She had ceased to care about the machinations of the school and why these two were deemed to be so important. She had her own problems to sort out.

The other vampires seemed on edge, especially when Kaname invited Yuki to sit right next to him. Ruka's objection was particularly obvious, and she almost stormed off before Akatsuki managed to calm her down.

Hanabusa came over to Yvelta. 'I don't like that they're here. I don't understand why he treats her so well. I know a little of their history together, but nothing more than that.'

'What is their history together?' She felt reckless, so put her feet over his legs when he sat down. He just glanced at her, and continued.

'He saved her life from a Level E when she was a child. Her life belongs to him. But he won't drink her blood. He won't treat her like that, even though it's what she owes him. I don't understand.'

Yvelta chuckled. 'Of course he won't. He loves her, can't you see that?'

Hanabusa gave her an odd look. 'Vampires don't love humans.'

'Then perhaps there is more to Yuki than meets the eye.' She gave him a small smile.

'Perhaps.'

The rest of the party passed quickly, and soon they returned to the Moon Dorms. But they all were set on edge when they heard a gunshot from somewhere in the grounds. Yvelta went out to investigate despite Kaname's insistence that everybody remain indoors. She ignored him, as she always did.

She found them in the pool. Yuki and Zero, who had been shot, and somebody new. Somebody she had encountered before. She recognised that smell. Leather mixed with cigarettes. Yagari.


	11. Chapter 11

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN VAMPIRE KNIGHT, ONLY YVELTA GRIMM**

'Yagari? What the devil are you doing?' Yvelta looked between the hunter's smoking gun and the two drenched disciplinary committee students.

The hunter looked at her with is one eye. 'I'm doing my job. I didn't expect to see you here, of all places.' As usual, he let nothing faze him. He didn't even show any hint of surprise at seeing her.

'The world seems to have a funny way of bringing people together. Now, I don't have issue with you shooting at these two, I'm hardly their biggest fan. But I'm curious as to why?' She walked over to him. He gave her another imperious look.

'Why? Because he's a vampire. He tried to bite her.'

'It wouldn't be the first time.'Yvelta muttered.

'What was that?' Yagari's eye narrowed.

'Nothing, Yagari. Nothing at all.' She turned around and began walking away. 'Carry on.'

Yagari allowed himself a small smile. She hadn't changed. 'Yvelta!'

She stopped. 'Yes?'

'Lose the makeup. Looking like a pampered aristocrat doesn't suit you.'

Yvelta grinned. 'I'm glad we're on the same page about that. Do feel free to correct those who disagree. I won't stop you.' She faded back into the forest.

Halfway through she found Hanabusa. Clearly he'd tried to follow her, but had failed.

'Where did the gunshot come from? Why are you smiling? What's going on?' He was still in the clothes from the party. None of them had been back at the dorms long enough to change before the shot was fired.

'It came from the pool, I have my reasons, and it's none of your concern.' She answered each question without even looking at him. It irritated him.

He grabbed her arm. 'You shouldn't have come out here. You might have gotten hurt.'

His comment made her sigh. 'You really must stop treating me as if I am a delicate piece of glass. I was in no danger.'

Hanabusa dropped her arm moodily. She was so irritating lately. One minute it seemed like she was flirting, the next he felt as if she was treating him as nothing more than an irritation. She was impossible to read.

Yvelta studied his face. 'I've irritated you. My apologies.'

'Forget it.' He put his hands in his pockets and began walking back to the Moon Dorms.

'That is far more than irritation. What plagues your mind, Hanabusa?'

He turned to face her, eyes sad. 'You really don't know?'

'I have my suspicions. I merely wish to confirm them.' She walked over to him, putting an arm around his shoulders comfortingly. 'I promise to listen without judgement.'

He pushed her arm off. 'You can't.'

'Oh, so it does concern me.' A knowing smile lit her features.

Hanabusa growled in frustration. 'Just… Forget it, okay?'

Yvelta raised an eyebrow. 'You cannot possibly expect me to follow that recommendation. I will pursue this to the very end, if only to satisfy my burning curiosity as to what it is about me that frustrates you so greatly.'

'Nice to know that you want to know what's wrong for my sake rather than yours…'

She sighed. 'Again, I apologise. I am being callous. But please, tell me what the problem is. I don't see how it can make anything worse.'

'You are the problem. I don't know what it is you want from me. Your behaviour is erratic, almost to the point of bipolarity, I can't understand it. What am I to you? A toy?' He was getting angrier by the minute.

Yvelta's eyes grew sad. 'You want to know what you are to me? You are my only friend. I'm sure that I need not explain why I have so few, considering the fact that you said many of those reasons yourself. I was unaware that my behaviour was affecting you so strongly. Perhaps it would be best if I were to leave you alone.'

Judging by the look on Hanabusa's face, that option was the opposite of what he wanted. 'You don't get it, do you?'

'Apparently I do not. Please enlighten me.'

Words weren't working. He'd simply have to show her. He grabbed her hands and pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her. He nuzzled his face in her neck, breathing in a scent that wasn't there. He wished more than anything that she gave off a scent. It was unnerving to smell nothing.

'Hanabusa…' She warned, relatively certain that her neck was about to be pierced. But she was wrong. Instead of teeth, she felt lips. Lips that brushed the curve of her neck as lightly as the wind. It only took a few seconds for all the emotions she had blocked up on her weekend away to come flooding back, breaking the dam of reason she had erected.

He may not have been able to smell her, but he could taste her, and that taste was addictive. A mixture of mysterious fruits, a hint of candy, and something he couldn't identify that sent him off the edge. Nothing had ever tasted this good. Just one bite couldn't hurt…

Yvelta hissed slightly as she felt Hanabusa's fangs pierce her skin. It didn't hurt that much, but she could feel the blood being sucked out, just as she could when it was Kaname drinking it.

'Don't drink too much, we don't know how it will affect you yet. You may become sick.' But her warning was ignored. Hanabusa was out of control, eyes burning red. His hands tightened around her, preventing escape.

She began to feel lightheaded. 'That's enough, Hanabusa.' She forcefully lifted him off her, noticing the shock and anger in his still-red eyes. They slowly returned to their usual icy blue. 'I said enough.'

He slowly regained control of himself. She was right, he was beginning to feel a little ill. But it wasn't as bad as he had expected. 'I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that.'

She waved off the apology. 'I probably deserved it. But an explanation for the actions previously would be nice.'

Ah. That part. 'They don't speak for themselves?'

She shook her head slightly, smiling. 'Not entirely, no. Though I have a pretty good idea.'

He ran a hand through his hair. 'Ugh… If you keep teasing me with the flirting and stuff, the way you have been, that's going to keep happening.'

'That sounds like an invitation.' At least she'd been able to control her reaction this time, unlike the disaster she perpetrated the first time he kissed her. It was good to know she hadn't lost him. She gave him a mysterious smile and walked back to the dorms, unusually satisfied. It wasn't until she was in her room that she remembered she was still wearing the clothing and makeup from the party. She sighed. She'd have to get him to help her take the dreadful stuff off. He had unfortunately neglected to explain that part to her earlier.

She snuck out of her room and across to his, silently opening the door. Akatsuki was asleep, and Hanabusa was in bed, but his eyes were open. He rolled his eyes when he saw her sheepish face.

'What is it now?' He wasn't wearing a top. Yvelta eyed the perfect muscle definition of his torso as an artist would look at a masterpiece.

'You have spectacular muscular definition.' She said quietly.

He raised an eyebrow for. 'That's what you called me out here for?'

'No, I need you to help me remove this damnable makeup. I have no idea how to get rid of it. Scratching it off was unsuccessful…'

He chuckled as he noticed the lines from where her fingernails had been. 'I can well imagine. Come on.' He led her to her room, ran over to Rima's, snuck in, grabbed some makeup remover, and snuck back out again.

'This stuff is what you use to clean it off.' He helped her with it.

Eventually it was all gone. 'If you ever make me wear that horrid chemical mix again, I will steal your clothes.' She threatened.

'Alright, I get it. No makeup. It did look nice, though.'

Yvelta snorted. 'No. It did not. It looked abominable.'

Hanabusa shook his head. 'Whatever. I'm going back to bed.' He took the makeup remover back to Rima's room, slipped into his bed, but was unable to sleep. There was too much to think about.

As he stared at the fading stars out his window, Yvelta did the same. The events of tonight were thoroughly unexpected. She tossed and turned, left to wonder what the following day would bring.


	12. Chapter 12

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN VAMPIRE KNIGHT, ONLY YVELTA GRIMM**

Class the next evening brought with it a new surprise. Yagari was teaching. Yvelta had suspected that this may have been the case when she overheard some of the Day Class girls chatting about him while waiting for the vampires outside the Moon Dorm gates. They didn't mention him by name, but there were few who fit such a description. It amused her to see the effect he was having on the poor girls. They were smitten. It would have irritated him greatly.

However she hadn't expected him to be teaching the vampires' classes as well. It would be very tiring for him. His reception amongst the vampires was cool at best. He caught a thrown weapon in a book, giving the perpetrator a thoroughly disdainful look.

'Yvelta.' He nodded to her as she came in.

'Yagari.' She nodded back.

The vampires looked suspiciously between the two of them, Hanabusa especially. Yvelta just sighed. 'We've met before.' She offered no further explanation. The vampires didn't seem satisfied.

The classes were more amusing with Yagari teaching. He managed to weave in references that only Yvelta could understand. More than once she let out a giggle, and Hanabusa noticed an accompanying half smile on Yagari's stern face. Jealousy flared in his stomach. He'd never seen Yvelta laugh so much; he wished he could make her laugh like that.

Yagari noticed the change in Hanabusa's demeanour. One of those parasites was interested in Yvelta, huh? He'd just have to do something about that.

Eventually class was finished. 'Yvelta, could I see you for a moment?' Yagari said very obviously in front of everyone. Hanabusa's blood boiled.

'Alright…' Yvelta was confused. What was this about? She was certainly not oblivious to the change in Hanabusa, nor to the apparent enjoyment Yagari had received from it. He could be cruel like that sometimes. Yvelta waited around for everyone to leave, giving Hanabusa a quick nod to let him know that it was okay. He left grudgingly.

'What is it, Yagari?' She sat down on one of the desks.

'I was just wondering if you were free on Saturday night. I thought we might have dinner.' He leaned on the desk, arms folded, a cheeky smile on his lips.

Yvelta sighed inwardly. This would complicate things, but it would be good to catch up with an old friend. 'Alright. But do not expect anything to come of it.'

Yagari's smile turned into a grin. 'We'll see.'

When Yvelta left the classroom, she found Hanabusa pacing outside.

'Are you alright?' She asked with concern, noticing his frustrated demeanour.

'I don't like him.' His response was filled with venom. His eyes were turning a very deep crimson with every consecutive step.

'You don't like him because he knew me before you did and therefore you are not alone in knowing me, or because he's flirtatious?' She crossed her arms.

'You know the answer to that.'

Yvelta grabbed his hand. 'Hanabusa, listen to me. This is not the first time I have encountered flirtatious males. I've had a long span of years. This is nothing new.'

He pulled his hand away. 'That's not the problem here. The problem is you were receptive.'

Yvelta crossed her arms again. 'You act as someone staking a claim to territory. I am not territory, and nor am I claimed. I will be receptive to whomever I wish.'

Her response angered him. He punched the wall. 'Don't lead me on like this! You can't just go around flirting with whoever you want when you know how I feel. It's cruel and unfair.'

His crimson eyes were blazing. Yvelta sighed. She'd have to feed him again to get him out of this mood. She quickly pulled him out of the corridor and led him into the forest, constantly aware of his agitated state. Not a moment after she had pulled her collar back enough to expose her neck did he sink his teeth into her flesh, pushing her against a tree. The now familiar sensation of blood being pulled the wrong way barely bothered Yvelta at all. She was more distracted by his dominance. It was only ever when he needed blood that this particular side of him broke free from the restraints he held it back with. She quite liked it. He drank less this time despite his desperation. It seemed he was more conscious of how much he could safely take from her. It seemed to affect him less, too. He did not feel quite so weak from it as he had last time. He had certainly noticed a change in his powers, though. They were amplified for several hours after feeding from her, something he had discovered was difficult to control, much to his chagrin.

When he was done he looked at her apologetically. His anger and jealousy seemed to have evaporated.

'I'm sorry for how I acted. But I'd still like you to stop flirting with Yagari.'

'He's the one flirting with me. If you want me to stop that, you need to stop flirting with all your adoring fans.' A half smile quirked on Yvelta's face.

'Aww, you know I can't do that. They love me. I can't deny them my dashing charm.' He looked legitimately put out.

'Then I suppose I won't be denying Yagari.' She turned around, still smiling, and began walking to the dorms.

Hanabusa was left watching her retreating form. Eventually he returned to the dorm himself, to find Akatsuki waiting for him.

'What do you want?' He demanded, his mood not at all improved.

'Just to talk. You've been in a terrible mood lately. It's becoming irritating.'

Hanabusa threw himself onto his bed. 'I don't want to talk about it.'

'Well I do.' Akatsuki sat next to him. 'It's about that damned Grimm girl. You won't stop staring at her. You're brooding. Either find someone else or make a move. She's clearly not waiting around, judging by her reaction to that new teacher.'

Hanabusa pulled his pillow over his face and growled into it. 'She just won't listen! I've told her how I feel but nothing has changed. It doesn't seem to matter to her. I just want to tear that stupid Yagari's face off for flirting with her.'

Akatsuki sighed, running a hand through his fiery hair. 'So it's jealousy. Then why not make her jealous? Have some payback. Let her see what she's missing. Find yourself a vampire, Hanabusa. Creatures like her… Not that there are any, and I still don't fully believe her story, but people like that aren't good for you. Find someone else less headstrong. Maybe you'll find that you don't care about her that much after all.'

Hanabusa thought the plan over. It just might work. Jealousy clearly was an issue for her too, judging by the comment about his fans… An idea formulated in his mind, and he grinned before falling asleep.

Yvelta lay awake in her room, wondering about the decisions she was making. _No attachments_ kept running through her head. Every time she thought about going to dinner with Yagari, she'd be stabbed with guilt about how it was affecting Hanabusa. She'd have to cancel it. He was right, she was being very heartless about how he felt, and was taking advantage of it.

'Damn it, woman, why did you have to fall for someone?' She berated herself. Never had she had this issue before. Certainly, she had been sexually active, but the rule of no attachments had worked in both her and the partner's favour. It had generally been during those old wars, and it was a commonly known regulation, if not one set in stone. Certain urges had to be fulfilled, and that was all there was to it. But there were other desires that such a casual affair could not sate, desires that Hanabusa seemed capable of fulfilling. The desire to be cared for, for example. She tossed and turned as her inner self debated each angle, trying in vain to find a solution.

As a result of her troubled thoughts, she slept badly, and was in a less than civilised mood when she woke up. Her mood worsened when Hanabusa ignored her, and was further exacerbated by him flirting with the Day Class girls more than usual upon leaving the dorms. It was so bad that they were fainting. Despicable creatures.

Hanabusa felt a tinge of regret when he saw how it was affecting her, but it was overtaken by a sense of revenge. Two could play at this game.

A foreboding cloud hung over Yvelta throughout all the classes. Even Yagari didn't try to flirt with her when her mood was so obviously dangerous. He knew when to back off with her. He'd seen her angry before. It hadn't ended well for the man she was angry at.

After class he caught up with her. 'You're in a foul mood today.'

'That is correct. Do not make it worse, you will deeply regret it.' She walked quickly, wishing to avoid any and all people that crossed her path.

'I'm not trying to. I just wanted to make sure that you're alright. We still on for Saturday?'

She stopped walking, biting her lip. 'No. I… Can't.'

Yagari sighed. 'Alright. But if it's because of that Hanabusa kid, I wouldn't waste your time. He's clearly got interests elsewhere.' He pointed towards the dorm gates, where Hanabusa was standing next to one of the vampires that had been there for Takuma's party. She was blushing.

Yvelta's eyes narrowed. 'Why, that scheming little…' He must have organised her arrival when he woke up. There was no other way she would have known when to arrive. Yvelta was sure Hanabusa barely knew the girl. She knew this was his way of getting back at her, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt.

'You know, I think my Saturday evening just became free again.'

Hanabusa noticed Yvelta looking at him, but couldn't risk glancing her way. The vampire's name was Kirena. She was nice, if a little boring, but they had only just started talking. She was probably more nervous than anything. Other vampires became nervous around him due to his status as an aristocrat. It was something he was used to, and that also irritated him. He just wanted to be treated like a normal guy… Most of the time. But right now, starting like this was for the best. He'd break down her nervousness. He just hoped she didn't get too upset about being used.

Yvelta stormed past them into the dorms. She went straight to her room and slammed the door. Around ten minutes later, there was a knock.

'Enter.' She said as calmly as she could. She was not expecting Kaname to emerge from the other side.

'What do you want?' She barely gave him a glance.

He closed the door behind him. 'There are things that we need to discuss.'

Yvelta sighed and got up from her bed. 'I cannot think of anything that I could possibly need to discuss with you. If you don't mind, I would prefer to be alone.'

He leaned against the door, arms crossed. 'I beg to differ. I am the dorm president and as such it is my job to ensure that all the dorm residents are happy. There is tension between you and Hanabusa. Resolve it before you destroy him, or you will have all the aristocratic vampires in this country hunting you.'

Yvelta looked at him sadly. 'That is not something you will have to worry about any longer. He has made his choice.'

Her vulnerability was beginning to show. It reminded him of Yuki for some reason. He sat on the bed, patting the spot next to him. She grudgingly obeyed.

'His choice was not you.'

Yvelta shook her head. 'It's far more complicated than that. He chose not to give up what was required to have me. In doing so he alienated me, and has furthered that by choosing to intensify the jealousy that I feel by being with another of his kind. I am at fault myself. My actions were far from irreproachable, but he has decided to take the route of revenge rather than reconciliation.'

He had never heard her talk so openly. Her hatred for him had prevented any proper conversations between the two of them, something he was growing to regret the more he learned about her. He had created her, after all. He should know more than anybody, but he found his knowledge had enormous gaps that he intended to fill.

'Perhaps he will regret his decision. But it is likely that he will prefer this new vampire companion to you. He will have more in common with her than he does with you. That is my fault, for making you what you are. I apologise for that.'

Yvelta's eyebrows shot up. Kaname apologising? To her? Something was seriously wrong here.

'I am… Pleased that you confided in me.' He gave her a small smile.

'Do not become used to it. I expect I will regret doing so very soon.'

He put a hand on her shoulder, and she flinched involuntarily. Another thing he regretted. He should not have tortured her so much. While there had been no lasting physical scars, there were clearly mental barriers that he would now have to learn to overcome with her. If he could manage that, she would become an asset to him. An invaluable asset.

'Please do not hesitate to tell me of any grievances you have, Yvelta.' He smiled again and left the room.

Yvelta closed her eyes. His behaviour was exceedingly odd, but she didn't have the will or the inclination to think about that now. She was too upset about Hanabusa.

The rest of the week passed slowly. That vampire girl, Kirena, was outside the dorm gates every evening, waiting for Hanabusa. It thoroughly irritated Yvelta. The girl was like a puppy waiting for its owner to get home. Utterly pathetic.

Before long it was Saturday. Yagari had indicated that dinner was at a classy restaurant, so she had to look nice. She sighed. That meant she would have to go and buy herself a dress, because she did not own a suitable one other than the one Hanabusa had bought for her, and under the circumstances it didn't seem appropriate.

Shopping was difficult. She had money with her, but dresses were far more expensive than she had expected. They were also hideous, and very revealing. Not her style at all.

Eventually she arrived at a small vintage shop that had far more respectable items of clothing. It also had newly made clothing in a vintage style. She was quite taken with a black swing dress with small red polka dots and trim, and promptly tried it on. It seemed to fit well, so she bought it. The lady at the counter suggested a petticoat to go with it, in order to allow the dress to sit the way it was made to, and also advised her on which shoes to buy to match it. Yvelta complied, happy with the outcome. She then headed to the restaurant, taking an indirect route due to seeing Hanabusa and Kirena, and wishing to avoid them. Her face burned. They'd been holding hands.

She ducked into a bathroom to quickly do her hair. She just brushed it, letting it tumble around her face. That would have to do.

Upon emerging from the bathroom, she was attacked. A Level E had been following her. She was surprised for only a moment, then regained her composure and quickly dispatched it before it could do any damage. As it disintegrated into ash, she stalked off, a killer in the night.


	13. Chapter 13

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN VAMPIRE KNIGHT, ONLY YVELTA GRIMM**

Yvelta stepped into the restaurant with complete composure. There was no sign that she had merely minutes before been attacked. She spotted Yagari and walked towards him. He looked rather dashing in a suit, even if he left the top few buttons undone as a sign of defiance towards propriety.

'Had some trouble?' He looked at her with something bordering on concern.

'How the devil did you know that?' She sat down with a smile on her face.

He leaned over the table and brushed her neck lightly. A few ashes fell to the ground. She hadn't even realised that when the vampire had turned to ash that any had landed on her. Luckily those few specks were the only evidence.

'You look nice.' He said awkwardly.

There was silence for a few minutes as they perused the menus. Yagari had always been awkward when he wasn't hunting. Relating to people was not something he was good at. He fiddled with the corner of the menu, observing Yvelta when he thought she wasn't looking.

Yvelta smiled inwardly. Did he really think she didn't notice? Foolish of him, underestimating her like that. She caught his eye, staring him down with a cheeky grin. He hastily looked back to the menu.

The selection of food was vast. Eventually she settled on a salmon dish. She hadn't eaten fish in a while. Yagari chose an elaborate spicy chicken stir fry. They ate in relative silence, enjoying the meals too much to speak. Once done, they decided not to bother with dessert. They discussed the classes Yagari was teaching. Yvelta discovered that he hadn't originally come here to the academy to be a teacher, it had been on hunting business, but Kaien had convinced him to change his mind. The discussion moved to Yagari's recent movements and jobs, in which Yvelta learned that he had spent quite some time hunting a coven of Level E vampires that was constantly moving around. Blood starved to insanity they may be, but they had basic pack instincts, and that made them even more dangerous. He'd been in the middle of that job when the Hunter Association had called him to the academy.

'So they're still out there?' Yvelta looked seriously at Yagari. The teaching job must have been doubly irritating when he hadn't finished the hunting job.

'Yeah. And if I'm in this job too long, I won't be able to find them again. Every second I'm away from the hunt more people are killed.' He slammed his fist on the table, drawing the irritated glances of the other patrons.

Yvelta rested her chin on steepled fingers. 'When you were tracking them, where were they heading?'

He rubbed his forehead. 'Not far from here, as a matter of fact. But I doubt they would have stayed here long.'

'Shall we, then?'

Yagari tilted his head. 'Excuse me?'

Yvelta smiled. 'Well we can't let them roam around forever, now can we? I'm sure that two people hunting them will be better than one.'

The smile that lit up his face was the first innocent, legitimate smile she had seen from him. They paid for the meals, and headed out into the cold night. The sun had set, and most people had gone inside. The streets were practically deserted. However, the two of them could feel hostile eyes upon them, waiting, watching every move.

Tracking covens wasn't too difficult. It was something Yvelta had done for thousands of years in her, in hindsight, slightly misguided quest to destroy the entire species of the man who had wronged her. There were signs of a coven having been here recently, but they had left a day or so previously. They had not moved far. Pickings here were good; nobody would notice if one or two people went missing.

Yagari was amazed at her tracking ability. It had been a few years since he had last hunted with Yvelta, and he had forgotten how good she was. She picked up signs he didn't even see, and as a result they found the coven, hiding in the sewers.

They snuck almost silently through the dark tunnels, the only sound they made the whisper of Yvelta's dress. Contaminated water dripped from the walls, muck covered the floor. It was a dreadful place for anybody to live, even Level E vampires. Destroying them would be a mercy.

Soon they could hear the sounds of flesh being torn from bone. That was the problem when they dropped to Level E. They didn't just drink blood, they consumed most of the victim, so desperate for the red liquid that they would tear through muscle and bone to find every last drop.

There were seven of them. Seven wiry, crazed Level E vampires gorging on the flesh of their latest victim, now completely unrecognisable. Yagari and Yvelta looked at each other. They would have to plan this very carefully if they were going to make it work. A few quick hand motions and the plan was complete. Yvelta would flank from the left, Yagari from the right. Surprise was the key here.

They moved, completely synchronised, Yagari drawing his guns while Yvelta flexed her fingers. Yagari shot as Yvelta jumped, bullets flying next to her as she landed on one of the vampires, scratching its face right off, eliciting an unholy scream from it. The two vampires next to her exploded into ash, hit square in their foreheads by Yagari's bullets. As Yvelta's target exploded, she jumped to the next one, spinning and kicking it in the face, snapping its neck. Its eyes boggled, but it cracked its neck and laughed maniacally at her.

'Damn it.' She gritted her teeth as it leapt at her, claws spread wide. It exploded in her face as Yagari shot it. He didn't even spare her a glance as he moved to his next enemy. She did the same. Two of the last three screamed in fury and jumped towards her, but she fixed her stance and held her arms out, locking her elbows, fingers pointed outwards. The vampires didn't realise what she was doing, they paid her no heed. Their heads slammed against her locked fingers as if they were an impenetrable wall. Her fingers went straight through. The vampires exploded into ash as Yagari shot the last one.

Complete silence. Yvelta brushed the ash from her dress and smiled at Yagari. He smiled back. He hadn't had a hunt that good in a long time.

'Shall we return to Cross Academy?' Yvelta said in a low voice.

'Probably. Otherwise that damned bleeding heart of a headmaster will get annoyed at us.' He rolled his eyes. Yvelta giggled.

They slowly headed back to the academy, enjoying the evening. They walked in silence, both deep in thought. Yvelta was thinking about Hanabusa, multiple emotions battling within her. Yagari was remembering how he and Yvelta had first met.

It had been around seven years ago. He'd been younger, angrier, and less controlled. She had been different, too. More superior, more aloof, and yet less human than she now seemed. She had taught him a lot that night. He'd been out hunting and she had come across his path. He knew instantly that she was not what she seemed. Nobody human had eyes like that. They glowed violet with golden pupils that sparked with anger. She had snarled at him as he stepped towards her.

The memory came flooding back to him in waves, and as he was walking the world around him transformed.

'_Stay back from me, human.' She growled at him._

_He raised his gun. 'Give me one good reason to leave you alive.'_

_She had laughed bitterly at his demand. 'If only you were capable of killing me, human. If only that were possible.'_

_He lowered his gun ever so slightly. She didn't seem to be threatening him. In fact, she seemed sad more than anything else. 'What are you?'_

_She fixed her eyes on him. 'I can guarantee you that you would not even begin to believe me.'_

'_Try me.' He smirked._

'_Well I suppose as I'm probably going to kill you anyway it can't hurt…' She stalked around him, never taking her eyes off him. 'I am the result of a genetic experiment completed approximately 10,000 years ago by a monstrous pureblood vampire.'_

_Yagari raised an eyebrow. 'That's the best you've got? Really? Do I look like an idiot to you?'_

_The strange woman's mouth twitched. 'I did say you would not believe me. Your world would be shattered by the realisation that there are far worse monsters than vampires out there, wouldn't it? So of course, you must take everything that I say as the ravings of a madwoman with mutated eyes. Everybody does.'_

_He aimed his gun at her again. 'Get out of here before I shoot you.'_

_The woman smirked. 'Go ahead and shoot me with your pathetic weapon. It will only serve as proof of what I have told you. I am in essence immune to serious harm.'_

_He hesitated. She just seemed like a crazy person. He couldn't shoot her for that._

'_Your hesitation will be your downfall, hunter. Did they not teach you that?' She leaped at him, landing silently in front of him. He pulled the trigger of the gun instinctively, watching the bullet embed itself in her shoulder. It barely broke the skin._

'_I did warn you.' She slapped the gun out of his hand, and was about to grab his throat when she heard something from behind her. She sniffed._

'_Ah, I knew you were out here somewhere.' She grinned, eyes blazing. She turned to Yagari. 'You will have to wait. I have another quarry who demands my attention. I bid you good evening.'_

_In a second she was gone. Damn she was fast. Yagari picked up his gun, shaking slightly. What the hell had she meant by saying there were monsters worse than vampires?_

The memory faded. Yagari looked over at Yvelta. She was staring at him.

'I've been attempting to talk to you for five minutes. What were you dwelling on that captivated you so completely?' She tilted her head to the side, purple eyes wide.

He smiled slightly. 'Nothing. Just the night we first met.'

She laughed. 'I was very different then. As were you. You carried less scars than you do now, and less worries.' She put a comforting hand on his shoulder.'

He found her speech soothing. He always had. Nobody spoke the way she did anymore. It somehow made things seem less horrible when she could describe them so beautifully.

'I distinctly remember requesting that you shoot me. Your reaction was highly amusing. I regret having to leave you for that vampire I was hunting. He was not worth the effort. Barely a chase involved.'

Yagari put his hands in his pockets. 'I was hunting that vampire for days.'

Yvelta snorted. 'You were not as good a hunter then. You have since improved.'

There was silence again, and Yagari faded back into the memory.

_Blood was smeared in the snow, mixed with ash. A lone figure stood on the edge of the cliff. It was only now, in the light of the moon, that he noticed her clothing. She looked like a pirate who had stepped straight out of the 1600s, just without the hat._

'_You followed me then, hunter?' She merely inclined her head in his direction, not bothering to turn. A brutal looking sword hung in her hand, dripping blood. The dagger in her other hand did the same._

_He looked at the pile of ash swirling at her feet. 'You were toying with him.'_

_She laughed. 'But of course. What is the point if I do not get to have a little fun?' She walked towards him, a cruel smile on her face. 'They are beneath me, hunter, as are you.'_

_He aimed his gun at her face. 'Go ahead and say that again.'_

_She sighed and rolled her eyes an instant before she slapped the gun out of his hand and kicked him in the kneecaps, causing him to fall to the ground in pain. He tried to pull out his other gun but she stepped on his arm._

'_Know your place, human.'_

_He looked up at her, the hint of a smile on his face. Despite his predicament, this was fun. 'You're not even going to have the courtesy to tell me your name before you kill me?'_

'_Kill you? Why would I kill you? I'm merely teaching you a lesson. But if you so insist. I am Yvelta Grimm. Name yourself.'_

'_Toga Yagari.'_

_The girl hesitated. 'I am familiar with that surname. Descended from Akiroku Yagari?'_

_Yagari narrowed his eyes. 'He was my great-great-great-great-great grandfather.' How would she know that?_

'_You have his eyes. Well, eye. Different hair, though.' She kneeled down and studied his face._

'_What the hell do you mean I have his eyes and not his hair?' Yagari tried to move away from her, but she held him down, not finished observing him._

'_Struggling will only elicit more pain. What I mean is that you look similar to him. I knew him, you see. He was a hunter too. The first in your family, in fact.'_

_She sounded so sincere. She honestly believed that what she was saying was true. 'You're nuts.'_

'_Am I? Now what would give you that impression?' She cocked her head to the side, only making herself look even more insane._

'_That was seven generations ago. You couldn't possibly have known him.' Yagari growled at her._

_Yvelta folded her arms. 'Well excuse me for intruding on your tiny little world in which nothing like me can exist. Do you want proof? Akiroku began hunting when he was just a boy, but he wasn't hunting vampires. He was hunting something else. He thought it was a vampire originally, but it wasn't. Do you know what it was?' She leaned in, daring him to answer her._

'_Something he couldn't explain.' Yagari growled again._

'_Well, I suppose that describes me rather well. He certainly wasn't able to explain my existence.'_

_Yagari stiffened. 'What did you say?'_

'_I said it was me that he was hunting. I'm more of a freak than those vampires you chase. But he couldn't kill me, so he went after real vampires instead. Well, that wasn't because he couldn't kill me, it was because they killed his sister…'_

_She was very talkative and open about her past. It was odd. He'd never encountered anybody so careless. She clearly hadn't seen a normal person in a very long time._

'_But we kept running into each other, and eventually he decided to stop attempting to kill me and to help me instead. I wanted the vampire scum dead just as much as he did. We made quite a good team, though I must admit, you have more style.' She smiled at his outfit and took her foot off his arm. He rubbed it, trying to soothe the pain._

'_You're her. You're the girl in his diaries. His hunting partner.'_

_She performed an elegant mock bow. 'The very same. Pleasure to meet you, descendant of Akiroku. Now, I believe we have dallied for far too long. There are vampires to hunt.' She offered him her arm. He ignored it and pushed himself off the ground._

'_I work alone.' Yagari lit a cigarette._

'_Do tell me how that is working for you.' Her eyes twinkled._

_He sighed. 'Fine. But only for one night.'_

_He would never forget her laugh. Melodic and free, yet hinting at unimaginable danger. 'You know, Akiroku said exactly the same thing.'_

Yagari jerked out of the memory when he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Yvelta.

'You really should focus on the present rather than the past. If I hadn't been here, I don't doubt you would have walked straight into the gate.'

He shook her arm off. 'Yeah, yeah. Whatever.'

She smiled. 'In any case, you have my thanks for an enjoyable evening. I think it was exactly what I needed.' She kissed his cheek and let herself into the Moon Dorms, leaving him staring after her with a hint of longing piercing his heart.


	14. Chapter 14

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN VAMPIRE KNIGHT, ONLY YVELTA GRIMM**

As Yvelta walked through the Moon Dorm doors, she noticed Hanabusa on the couch, glaring. Kirena was nowhere in sight.

Yvelta smiled at Hanabusa, but he ignored it. He was in an absolutely foul mood. How unfortunate, it had seemed like he was going to have a wonderful night when he was walking down the street hand in hand with that other girl. Something must have gone wrong.

Yvelta sighed. She couldn't leave him like this. 'What's wrong?' She sat next to him.

'It is not your concern.' He turned his head away.

His comment caused her to raise an eyebrow. How naïve of him. 'Anything that upsets you concerns me, Hanabusa. That is the role of a friend.'

He turned his icy blue eyes on her. 'It does not concern you.'

Yvelta stood suddenly. 'Very well. If you do not want my counsel I shall not give it to you. Good night, Hanabusa.'

He did not return her farewell, only turned to face the door again, brooding.

The next week passed uneventfully. Now it was Yvelta who was staring after Hanabusa, instead of the reverse. He would see Kirena after class each night and they would go out into the town. It frustrated her immensely. Yagari had not attempted to obtain her company again, though he remained familiar with her. Even Kaname had left her alone, noticing the change in her and being very wary of what it could mean. She may have seemed sad, but that only made her more dangerous, because she was liable to lash out.

The week after that, the headmaster was summoned before the Hunter Association to discuss Zero. They had been informed of his ever worsening state, and wanted to take action. His absence meant the vampires were essentially free to do as they wished for the day, without him there to enforce restrictions.

Rima and Senri threw a party, not for any particular reason, just to lighten the mood. Yvelta attended, but only because she was in the same building as them, and it was too difficult to concentrate with all the noise they were making. Kirena was there, too. Hanging off Hanabusa as if her life depended on it. It disgusted Yvelta.

Three hours in and she was indescribably bored. Everybody else was having fun. She just couldn't enjoy herself. She hadn't bothered to dress up for it, and neither had they. For once she was able to wear her favourite tight black cargo pants with straps (for weapons, of course) and a plain black tank top. She'd discovered these wonderful clothes when she first emerged from isolation twelve years previously. They were so different from everything else she had. But then, she only came out briefly once every hundred years or so, due to her desire for isolation, which made keeping up with fashion difficult. However, this didn't mean she was enjoying the party. Just enjoying not having to wear that damned uniform.

There was a crash from outside, and then the sound of something scraping along the wall. The other vampires ignored it. Yvelta was not so careless, and went to investigate.

She opened the door and looked out, but there was nothing out there. It was incredibly dark. The moon had been hidden behind thick storm clouds. Lightning flashed and she saw a figure a few metres away.

'Excuse me, who are you?' Yvelta called out. She received no answer. When the next bolt of lightning struck, the figure was gone.

A window shattered at the other end of the dorm. Yvelta sprinted around, but again found nobody.

'What the devil is going on?' She muttered to herself. Not a moment later she felt a slight pain in the base of her spine. Her hand groped around and pulled out a dagger. She spun to find the figure right behind her. She grabbed it, dragging it away, struggling, but dropped it when lightning flashed again. In the light of that bolt, the figure's face was revealed. It was identical to Yvelta.

Yvelta hissed and jumped backwards. 'Who are you?'

The figure merely grinned cruelly and leapt at her, slashing at her face with sharpened nails. It howled and raged when Yvelta dodged and weaved, not allowing a single hit to find its mark.

Soon the figure became angry and kicked Yvelta to the ground. 'They said you would be a good fight. I am disappointed.'

Yvelta was beginning to realise what this thing was. It had all the same moves as her, all the same types of weapons, even the same voice and face. It was a clone.

'The Hunter Association created you, didn't they?' Yvelta snarled as she crawled backwards. The clone just laughed.

'Well you were careless enough to allow them to take your DNA, weren't you? Stupid, very stupid. But I'm not just a clone. I'm improved.' The clone grinned that cruel, maniacal grin again and jumped towards Yvelta once more.

Yvelta spun, found her feet and kicked it in the face. 'Improved how?'

The clone recovered, wiping a hand across a split lip. 'They removed my empathy. I was bred to kill, and I have no qualms about doing so. I am the perfect killing machine.'

A version of Yvelta without empathy. That was disastrous. With the power it wielded, it could take over… Well, anything really.

'Perfect? Hardly. Only I retain that title.' Yvelta back flipped, kicking it in the face again as she did so, pulling out hidden blades from her cargo pants as she landed.

The clone growled, and wings sprouted from its back. It leapt into the air, circling around and diving to the ground to attack Yvelta. There wasn't a lot she could do against that kind of speed. She had no choice. She sprouted her own wings, black and red feathers whispering, and shot into the air.

Only once before had she fought in a storm, and she hadn't been flying. It was a sobering experience. The clone not only had no empathy, but also barely responded to pain. They had clearly improved upon her ability to withstand large amounts of damage. The clone cackled as Yvelta dodged a bolt of lightning, singeing her wings in the process.

By now the vampires inside had suspected that something was wrong, and had followed the noise. They had not expected to see two people fighting in the air in the middle of a storm.

Suddenly Yvelta dived down, pulling up just before she hit the ground. The clone had followed her, but hadn't been quick enough, slamming its face into the mud. Yvelta took the opportunity to get some decent strikes in, but it wasn't enough. The clone shook them off and leapt into the air again, pulling an odd metal object from its back. The clone clicked a button and the object lengthened, becoming a brutal looking sword.

'Now that's just unfair…' Yvelta whined. She gave Hanabusa a quick look. 'Battle axe.'

He nodded and raced inside, knowing exactly what she meant. She still had her armour and battle axe in her room, though locked away, but he knew where the key was. He had to hurry.

While waiting for her battle axe, Yvelta dodged the blade that her clone continuously swung at her, never tiring. It was like fighting a machine.

'I am greatly dissatisfied with your performance. I expected more from one apparently so skilled.' Her clone sneered.

'Oh, performance is what you want, is it?' Yvelta's eyes flashed, and she flew straight upwards, right into the storm. The clone looked up after her, seemingly confused.

As Yvelta gained height, she formulated a plan. She had never trained to fight herself. She'd have to be tricky. She suddenly stopped flying upwards, closed her wings and shot down towards the ground, spinning. As she passed the clone she grabbed it, taking it with her, and when they hit the ground she pushed the clone underneath her so it took the brunt of the impact. She rolled of the clone, wheezing. Unfortunately, the sword had pierced her side when they hit the ground. Not an ideal outcome, but at least the clone seemed to be taken care of.

How wrong she was. A few moments later the clone rose, seemingly unharmed.

'Risky move. Shame it didn't pay off.' It taunted her.

Hanabusa returned to find her in bad shape. She grabbed the axe from him and faced her opponent. The vampires were just watching. She wished they would go inside where they would be safer.

Yvelta and the clone shot into the air and charged at each other, weapons held aloft. But the clone could predict her every move. It was no use, it was just too strong. She tried to hold it off and failed, eventually crashing to the ground, an unconscious, broken, bloody heap. The clone touched down next to her, laughing.

'Now, who's next?' It turned its eyes on Hanabusa. 'You helped her. You can suffer my wrath for your mistake.'

Kirena screamed and ran away from Hanabusa as the clone leapt at him, forcing him to the ground. He managed to dodge the first few hits, but the clone learned quickly and eventually got him. The other vampires were attacking it now, to no avail. They were all yelling, Kirena was still screaming, and the clone was laughing at the sound of pounding flesh and breaking bone.

'_NOOOOOOOOOOOO!'_

Everything stopped. The clone turned around to find Yvelta forcing herself to her feet, face contorted with rage.

'Back for more, hmm? I'll be with you in a moment.' The clone cocked its head before lifting its arms up to attack Hanabusa again.

'YOU DO NOT TOUCH HIM!' Yvelta screamed in fury.

'Got a soft spot for him, have you?' The clone smirked and punched Hanabusa right in the face.

Yvelta snapped.

A previously untapped well of strength exploded from within her, and her whole body tingled. She was changing. The bones in her wings cracked and snapped, and the muscles tightened. They lengthened, becoming stronger. New feathers sprouted, gleaming. She could feel the muscles throughout her whole body strengthening, tensing for battle. Hands turned into claws, face became snout, fangs protruded from her jaws. She became an unspeakable beast, a physical representation of the various genes inside her.

The last thing to change was her eyes. No longer were they violet and gold. Now they were red and black, and filled with a fiery loathing. She roared and jumped at the clone, tearing it to pieces in a matter of seconds, ignoring the deep wounds it gave her.

When the clone was utterly destroyed, she turned to Hanabusa. He looked terrified, as did all the other vampires. Except Kaname.

Yvelta whined and ran into the forest. Nobody followed her. They were too shocked by what had taken place.

Kaname was the first to recover. 'Hanabusa needs treatment. Take him inside.' The others did so. Kaname did not help, he just stared into the forest with a deep curiosity, and returned to the dorms.

The following morning, when he had recovered somewhat, Hanabusa went into the forest to find her. She had not returned at all that night, and he was worried, though still apprehensive about her monstrous transformation.

It did not take him long to find her. He just followed the broken trees and destroyed ground. He found her in the centre of a clearing, stark naked, but back in her usual form. She was asleep. He blushed as he saw her in this vulnerable state, and hurriedly wrapped her in his jacket before carrying her back to the dorms. She was lighter than she had been before, as if the transformation had been so physically stressful that it had emaciated her.

He sat by her bedside for the whole day while she recovered. Not once did he think about leaving, not even when Kirena came in and demanded that he spend time with her before she had to leave. Nothing else mattered to him at the moment. She looked so innocent now. You would never guess that only hours before she had been the most terrifying creature he had ever had the misfortune to lay eyes upon. He could still barely believe it.

At some point Kaname entered. He spoke briefly to Hanabusa about Yvelta's state, which had not changed. Her body was healing slowly. She needed rest. Hanabusa became frustrated with Kaname's questions. It sounded like he wanted to perform experiments on her, see what the extent of this power was. When Kaname realised Hanabusa was becoming agitated, he left.

The whole day passed, and that night, and Hanabusa still would not leave. He missed class. He was absolutely exhausted, but he was determined to remain awake to look after her.

His resolve didn't last long. Soon he was lying on top of the bed, one arm around the sleeping form next to him, the other cradling his head as he snored. He slept for hours.

Yvelta woke once, but she did not alert Hanabusa. She let him sleep, stroking his hair.

_If only every morning could be like this_, a voice said in her head.

_Shut up_, said another.

She smiled and went back to sleep.


	15. Chapter 15

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN VAMPIRE KNIGHT, ONLY YVELTA GRIMM**

A week after Yvelta finally awoke, fully recovered, she was taken to see the headmaster. Her actions, while taken for the protection of the Night Class, had resulted in the death of her clone.

'That still counts as murder.' Kaien Cross rubbed his temples.

'She was defending herself and others.' Yagari was there too, trying to protect her. How chivalrous of him.

'While I understand what you are accusing me of, you are completely missing the wider ramifications. We are far deeper in trouble than you think.' Yvelta sat with arms folded, eyes dark.

'What is the bigger picture, then?' Kaien gave her a sharp look.

'They sent one clone, and it nearly destroyed me. How many more do you think they have?'

Yagari and Kaien looked at each other.

'That… Would be a serious problem. No offence, but one of you is enough.' Yagari gave her a tight smile.

'None taken, and I quite agree. I do not relish the idea of various sociopathic versions of me walking the earth. It would be an utter catastrophe.' Yvelta ran her fingers through her hair. It was a mess, she hadn't bothered to brush it.

'What do we do?' Kaien gave her an uncharacteristically helpless look for such a serious situation.

Yvelta sighed. 'I have to train. But I won't be doing it alone.'

Hanabusa was brushing his hair to just the way he liked it when he noticed Yvelta at the door. He could tell by the look on her face that he wasn't going to like what she was about to say.

'What is it?' He whined helplessly.

She closed the door and walked over to him, swaying her hips. She'd have to distract him as much as possible from what she was saying if she was going to make him say yes.

'Oh, nothing.' She purred as she slid her arms down his torso.

He jumped away from her. 'Seducing me won't work. You're going to tell me to do something I'm not going to like.'

Yvelta sighed. 'But the seduction was the fun part…' She batted her eyelashes, biting her lip. She had realised over the past week that it really was him that she wanted, and if she was going to get what she wanted, she would have to make sure he forgot about Kirena. Things weren't going so well with her in any case, she didn't seem to appreciate Hanabusa being friends with a monster. Most hypocritical of her, the parasite.

She could see a hint of red in Hanabusa's eyes. This would take less time than she expected. He must not have had his blood tablet yet.

Conveniently, all the other vampires were out at their model shoots. Hanabusa had the day off because his photographer had been in an accident and was in hospital with a broken arm. Well, she said "accident"…

A small, cheeky smile lit Yvelta's lips as she wrapped her arms around Hanabusa. 'You wouldn't want to spoil my fun, would you? Besides, you may like it.' She bit his earlobe teasingly.

It took a lot of effort for him to push her away. 'I am with Kirena. Don't make me besmirch my honour, or hers.'

'Then cease being with her and your honour shall not suffer.' Yvelta growled.

'It's not that simple!' He pleaded.

'Oh, is it not?' She pushed him onto the bed, straddling him, staring right into his eyes. 'I dislike other people having what is mine, Hanabusa, and mine you most certainly are.' Purple eyes glared into red. She could physically see him losing control.

A few seconds later he snarled, fangs protruding, and flipped her underneath him, pinning her legs to the bed with his own. She was quickly coming to realise that she found this side of him very arousing. Few could be so dominant around her.

He brought his head down to her chest, listening to her pounding heartbeat, chuckling darkly.

'You rile me up deliberately because you like how I react.' He said in a low, husky voice.

'That is correct.' Yvelta whispered.

'Well,' He traced her lips with his tongue, 'You'll like it even more when I'm done with you.'

His eyes held promises that he didn't keep. He acted as if he was going to kiss her, but instead flipped her onto her stomach and sank his teeth into her neck. While she was beginning to enjoy this part of their cat-and-mouse foreplay too, it left her incredibly unfulfilled, and she knew what would happen after.

It seemed this time her blood was not enough. He drank greedily, but she could feel his frustration as his hunger refused to be sated.

She was beginning to feel weak. There was only so much blood he could take. 'Hanabusa…' She pleaded weakly. If worst came to worst she could push him off, assuming she still had the strength, but she was loathe to do it. She didn't want to hurt him.

He grabbed her hands and pinned them above her head with his own while forcing his fangs in deeper.

'That is ENOUGH!' She forced his fangs out of her neck and flipped him over, trapping him. His eyes were still a burning blood red. It seemed she wasn't the only one who was unfulfilled.

'I need more.' He growled, struggling to break free from her powerful grip.

'I do not have more.' She pushed her forehead against his, closing her eyes. He calmed down soon after, though his eyes didn't change.

'What have you done to me?' He whispered with a slight smile.

'Me? I have done nothing! Nothing at all!' She pouted, but her eyes were twinkling.

'You're a horrible liar.' He nuzzled her neck.

'Only when I want to be.' She smelled his hair. It always smelled nice. Didn't smell of anything in particular, just… Nice.

She rolled onto her side, freeing him. He rolled with her, not wanting to leave her warm neck.

'I don't want to be with Kirena.' He said quietly, voice muffled by her flesh.

'Did you ever?' She pulled his head back gently so she could see his face.

He sighed. 'No.'

'As I thought.' She smirked triumphantly. 'You'll simply have to end it, then. Can't keep leading the poor girl on.'

He grumbled incoherently, making her laugh. The vibrations of that swept through him, and he hugged her. He decided to make her laugh more often.

She blushed slightly as he hugged her. He must not have realised he was grabbing her arse. Or maybe he did, the devil. She couldn't be sure.

'You never ended up telling me why you came in here in the first place.' He yawned.

'Hmm? Oh, that. I need you to train with me. There are more clones of me out there and I cannot deal with them alone.'

Hanabusa nearly jumped out of his skin. 'What? I'm not a warrior!'

'Not yet. But you will be.' She smiled at him.

He sighed. 'Fine. But I need something to protect my face. My modelling agency would kill me if anything happened to it.'

Yvelta rolled her eyes. 'As you command, your royal highness. God forbid anything happen to that pretty face.'

He punched her playfully. 'At least I'm prettier than you.'

She snorted. 'That is hardly a compliment to you, Hanabusa. It is far from difficult to be prettier than a monster.' She stood up and stretched. 'We'll begin training after your classes. Get some sleep. You're going to need it.'


	16. Chapter 16

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN VAMPIRE KNIGHT, ONLY YVELTA GRIMM**

'You're holding yourself too tightly. You need to loosen up, make yourself more limber, you will find it far easier to dodge blows that way.'

Hanabusa glared at Yvelta, who stood with her arms crossed, biting her lip. She was not at all impressed with his fighting style. Clearly the only thing he ever fought with was his hair every morning.

'Now, try again.' Hanabusa sighed, raised his arms, and waited for the barrage of punches that Yvelta was about to throw at him.

She was merciless. It only took her three small punches to break through his defences. She sighed. 'Again.'

And so they did it again, and again, and again. Hanabusa slowly improved. He'd never been taught to fight like this before. He'd been told to rely on his charm and control of ice. The hunters were the fighters, not the aristocrats. But he saw the stupidity in that. If the hunters one day betrayed them, there would be another war. If the vampires were not trained, they would lose. At the moment, though, there were far worse foes than the Hunter Association…

'Alright. You seem to have… Gotten the hang of blocking. Now we need to move on to your punching.'

This took just as much time to master. After about an hour, Yvelta held up her hand. 'That's enough for now. Time to rest. We'll work on this more tomorrow.'

She began to head back to the dorms. They had been training in the forest. It was the only place they could get any form of peace. But she had a meeting with Kaname to attend, and she did not particularly wish to be late.

Hanabusa followed her, bidding her farewell when they got inside. She smiled at him, then turned and headed for Kaname's room. She knocked on the door, but heard no response. She opened the door slightly, expecting the room to be empty, but Kaname was there, at his desk, poring over a very large book.

'I did not give you permission to enter.' His voice was monotonic.

'Yet here I am, standing in your room. How very rude of me.' Yvelta rolled her eyes. Kaname gave her a sardonic glance.

'You're late.'

Yvelta raised her eyebrows. 'Yes, by less than thirty seconds. I hardly think that amount of time makes a huge difference, do you?'

Kaname slammed the book shut. 'You requested a meeting and did not have the courtesy to arrive on time. If you do not wish to irk me further, you will tell me what it is you want and then leave.' He turned his cold eyes on her, but she did not flinch. She seemed most unimpressed.

'Very well. I wish to find out more about the… Transformation I underwent when fighting my clone. I need to control it, and I need to know if the clones are capable of such a transformation as well.'

Kaname's eyes lit up, though he turned away so she couldn't see. He had been hoping for an opportunity to study this new development.

'As you are the only geneticist I know, I thought it would be prudent to ask for your help in this matter. I can hardly perform the necessary experiments on myself.' She sat down without invitation opposite him, but he did not object. She smiled inwardly. Clearly, he liked this plan.

'The tests will be painful, to say the least.' He eyed her thoughtfully.

'Pain is something I have become accustomed to over the years. I do not believe it will be too much of an issue. But we need to do this quickly. I cannot risk another outburst. I need to know what caused it.' Though really, she already knew what caused it. It had been an emotional outburst of a strength she had never encountered, and it had unlocked parts of her genes.

Kaname suspected the same thing. It was only when Hanabusa was attacked that she transformed, and it was clear that she felt strongly about him. His suffering was the trigger. He could use that to his advantage. 'Then we shall begin immediately.' He headed towards the door.

Yvelta raised her eyebrows. 'Do you mean to tell me that you have a genetics laboratory simply lying around waiting for you to find a suitable patient?'

He looked back at her, head cocked over his shoulder. 'Of course.'

'Unbelievable…' She shook her head and followed him.

The laboratory was in the basement of the Moon Dorms. She did not think that any of the other vampires were aware of its existence. Somebody would have said something if they did.

It was equipped with a wide range of scientific instruments that she had never seen before. Some of them looked positively ghastly. Kaname was right, this would be painful. He seemed to sense her sudden disquiet, and looked over his shoulder again. His eyes held a question that she answered with a brief smile. She would be fine.

She stood in the middle of the room by the patient's chair, observing everything. Gruesome though it seemed, it still fascinated her. Kaname began to explain the purpose of all the different instruments, and she listened with sincere interest.

'I am afraid that to conduct these experiments we will have to remove most of your clothing.' Kaname almost sounded sorry.

'If that is what is required, so be it.' Yvelta stripped down to her underwear unabashed, and sat in the patient's chair. Kaname strapped her in, eyes roaming appreciatively over the lithe, athletic body before him. His eyes lingered on her chest. Nobody as slim as her deserved to have such a well-developed bust. If she wasn't so modest in her clothing, he was sure she would have been the envy of every woman here. He smiled inwardly. That was his doing. He certainly had made sure that she had the best possible genetic makeup.

'If you are quite finished.' She admonished him, lip ever so slightly curved in a self-satisfied smile.

He sighed and began the experiments. He had to take many samples, from her skin, her muscles, her blood, and her bone marrow. The latter were excruciating. He had no anaesthetic, so she was forced to endure the needle being pushed inside the bones that he chose. She barely managed to contain her screams. Twice the needle broke when Kaname attempted to pierce bones, and he was forced to surgically remove it. Sometimes her increased resilience was an issue.

It took him three hours, but eventually he had all the samples he needed for the moment. He undid the straps and allowed her to leave.

'How long will it take for you to analyse the samples?' She asked, giving no indication of the pain she had just been in.

'Depending on how much time I allocate to studying them, it could be up to two weeks.' He was already looking through a microscope at one of them.

'I shall leave you to it then. Please inform me of anything interesting that you find.'

He nodded and waved her away. She headed up to her room to find Hanabusa waiting for her.

'Where were you? I thought you had a meeting with Kaname?'

'I did.' She pulled off her clothes and pulled on pyjamas, ignoring the blush that crept up his cheeks at her lack of shame.

'But… His room is empty.' Hanabusa gave her a confused look.

'The meeting wasn't in his room for long. We took a trip to his genetics laboratory. I wanted him to run some tests. I need to know as much as I can about the transformation I underwent so that I can either prevent the next one or use it to my advantage.'

Hanabusa held up his hand. 'Wait, wait, wait… Genetics lab?'

'Yes. It resides underneath these dorms.'

Hanabusa blinked. 'Okay… I'm going to pretend that that's not a big thing. And he took samples?'

Yvelta glanced at him. 'He did. That was rather the point of me being there.'

'Samples of what?'

She sat next to him on the bed. 'Skin, blood, muscle tissue, bone marrow, all sorts of things.'

'Huh… I guess for that stuff you would have been under anaesthetic, which explains why you were gone so long…'

She shook her head, smiling slightly. 'No anaesthetic.'

Hanabusa paled. 'But… The pain…'

'Was excruciating, but bearable. Just.'

He seemed to be at a loss for words, a rare occurrence for him.

'I'm fine, Hanabusa. Honestly. Go get some sleep.'

He sighed, stood up and headed for the door, but paused. 'Oh, by the way, Takuma's grandfather is coming here.'

Yvelta's brows furrowed. 'Why?'

Hanabusa shrugged. 'No idea, but Takuma's terrified.'

'Is he? Interesting… Very interesting. Who is his grandfather?'

Hanabusa turned to face her, leaning against the door. 'Asato Ichijo.'

Yvelta snorts. 'Still alive, is he? Well, he's going to get a rather nasty surprise when he sees me.'

'You've met him?' Hanabusa paled again.

'Met him? Ha! He made an attempt on my life that he believed was successful.'

'When?' Hanabusa was shaking.

Yvelta stretched out on her bed. 'Oh, the last Hunter-Vampire war. He didn't appreciate my stance on the war. I didn't appreciate his drinking habits.'

Hanabusa said nothing.

'I've had a lot of time to make a lot of enemies, Hanabusa. Do not worry. I can handle myself just fine.' She gave him a reassuring smile. 'Now please, go to bed. We both need sleep.'

Hanabusa sighed, nodded and left, but his mind whirled, and he could not sleep.

_What have you gotten yourself into, Hanabusa?_ He asked himself before rolling over and eventually falling into a dreamless sleep due to sheer exhaustion.


End file.
